


Working Title: Playground Pals

by Formula_Tea



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Custody Battle, F/M, I've no idea where this is going, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pre-story death, School, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-15
Updated: 2015-06-18
Packaged: 2018-03-07 16:41:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 44
Words: 78,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3177241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Formula_Tea/pseuds/Formula_Tea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One child's parents are divorced and trying to keep things civil for the sake of the children. The other has lost their mother to the war that is yet to be announced. But they're still best friends. Most of the time. And coping a lot better than the grown-ups are.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Playground Pals

**Author's Note:**

> As I said, I have no idea where this story is going but it seems to be alright at the moment. If something happens which I think needs tagging, I'll tag it. If you think I need to tag something that hasn't been tagged, say and I will.  
> I hope this is a happy story, even if it doesn't really start off happy.  
> Anyway, enjoy.

“ _Our_ Frankie,” Rob said. He must have heard wrong. His son had not gotten into a fight. There was no way that had happened.

“Yes,” Lucy snapped. “Could you just go and pick him up please. _Without_ blaming all this on me, if possible.”

“I wasn’t going to blame this on you,” Rob said. He didn’t know why Lucy always thought like that. Sure, he hated her. But he hated her because she’d fallen in love with another man, not because she was a bad mother. He knew that wasn’t true.

“Right, sorry,” she said, quickly. “I’m just… work is stressful.”

“I know,” Rob said, gently. “I’m on my way to go and pick him up now.”

They’d both agreed that the separation needed to have as little impact on the children as possible, and it was working, Rob felt. He helped with the kids as much as possible, when Lucy and her new boyfriend were busy with work and she made no attempts to stop him seeing them when he wanted. If you didn’t know Rob was still in love with her, it would seem like a perfectly healthy friendship.

The woman at the front desk new Rob well enough from the number of times Frankie had forgotten his lunch box and she smiled apologetically at him when she let him in.

“Mr Jones has the boys and the other parent in his office,” she said.

“The other parent?” Rob said. “I thought I was just here to pick him up?”

“Mr Jones would like to speak to you both,” the receptionist said, standing to take him to the head teacher’s office on the other side of the hallway. She knocked politely but didn’t wait for an answer before opening the door. “Frankie Smedley’s father to see you.”

Four heads turned up to look at him when Rob came in. The two boys were sat in chairs in front of their head master’s desk, whilst the other father stood behind his son, looking as worn out and done with it all as Rob felt.

“What have you done?” Rob asked. He didn’t sound angry. He wasn’t angry. He was annoyed, and disappointed.

“Felipinho hit me first,” Frankie said, quickly, his voice breaking.

“You took my ball,” the other boy said, just as quickly.

“Did not.”

“Did too.”

“Did not.”

“Did too.”

“That’s enough, Felipinho,” the other father warned, rubbing his forehead.

“Mr Smedley, would you like to take a seat?” Mr Jones asked, gesturing to the two empty chairs beside the boys. Rob took the one beside his own son, watching whilst the other parent remained stood. “Can I just say, we’re as shocked as you are by this. Neither child has ever been violent to another student, let alone their best friend.”

“Frankie isn’t my friend anymore,” Felipinho sulked.

“I don’t want to be your friend,” Frankie said. “All your friends smell.”

“Do not.”

“Do too.”

“Do not.”

“Do not start again,” Felipinho’s father said. “Please…”

“Which is why we called you both in,” Mr Jones finished. “We would like to get to the cause of this behaviour before it gets any worse.”

“Why did you take Felipinho’s ball?” Rob said. It didn’t make any sense to him. He’d heard the other boy’s name a couple of times and was pretty sure the pair of them were friends. All Frankie’s sleep overs and parties happened at his mother’s house, though, so he’d never met any of Frankie’s friends.

“Because he wasn’t sharing,” Frankie said. “And you said you had to share.”

“Yeah, but if somebody else isn’t sharing, you can’t just take what isn’t yours,” Rob said. “It isn’t nice.”

“And why weren’t you sharing?” Felipinho’s father inquired.

“Because Frankie isn’t my friend anymore,” Felipinho said, crossing his arms.

“And why not?”

“Because he said heaven isn’t real,” Felipinho said.

Rob groaned and screwed his eyes shut. “I am really, really sorry about that,” he said. “Frankie has this rabbit. Well, he _did_ have this rabbit. But now it’s dead, and things got a little complicated. I’m really, really sorry.”

He knew Lucy should have just told the boys that the rabbit went to heaven, but her new boyfriend didn’t seem to think that was appropriate. It was one of the few things Rob had disagreed with her over since they’d separated.

When he opened his eyes, Felipinho was on his father’s lap, bawling, and Frankie looked very, very guilty.

“What do you say?” Rob said.

“Sorry,” Frankie muttered.

“Mummy is in heaven, isn’t she Papa?” Felipinho said.

“Oh my god,” Rob said, realising this was actually ten times worse than he thought it was. “I am so, so, _so_ sorry.”

Felipinho’s father didn’t seem to be listening, and Rob didn’t blame him. He was going to have to do something. There was no way he could just walk away from this.

Rob got out of the chair and knelt in front of Felipinho, resting a hand on the child’s knee whilst the father glared at him.

“Felipinho,” Rob said, gently, trying to get the child to look at him. “Frankie’s mummy is just silly. And she didn’t explain things right. There is a heaven, ok? And I am pretty sure your mummy is there. But there’s a different heaven for rabbits and dogs and animals, but Frankie’s mummy didn’t explain that well. There is a heaven.”

He smiled gently whilst Felipinho wiped his eyes and tried to stop himself crying.

“Frankie’s mummy was just being silly?” Felipinho asked.

Rob nodded. “Frankie’s mummy does a lot of silly things,” Rob said.

Felipinho smiled and Rob stood up.

“I really am sorry,” he said. “It will not happen again.”

“Thank you,” Felipinho’s father said, his own voice barely more than a whisper.

 

“What happened to not blaming it all on me?” Lucy snapped.

“You are the one who let our son think there was no heaven,” Rob hissed. He was on the phone, and kept having to pop his head through to the living room to make sure Frankie couldn’t hear him. Frankie was sat on the sofa looking extremely board. Rob had been in two minds about punishing him – after all, he couldn’t really be punished for telling what he knew as the truth – but he shouldn’t have said what he did and he shouldn’t have been fighting.

“John had already told him before I came home,” Lucy said. “I couldn’t say he was lying could he?”

“Yes, you could,” Rob said. It came back to John, of course. It always came back to John. “Because now Frankie’s fallen out with that Felipinho kid.”

“Oh god.”

“Exactly.”

“I’ll speak to Frankie,” Lucy promised. “And I’ll phone Felipe.”

“Who?”

“Felipinho’s dad,” Lucy explained. “What did Frankie actually _say_?”

“That there was no heaven,” Rob said. “He is five years old, Lucy. Why would John even think that was a good idea?”

“I will sort it out,” Lucy promised. “I’m on my way to pick up Frankie now.”

Great. She was coming over in a mood and he wasn’t exactly happy either. No. They were not going to have another argument. Not now. Not if it would make Frankie think it was his fault.

 

“Papa?” Felipinho asked quietly, looking up at his father from the seat beside him in the car. “Papa, I’m sorry.”

Felipe didn’t say anything. It was taking all his concentration to focus on the road and not start crying again.

“Papa, I’m sorry,” Felipinho said again. “I didn’t mean to hit. It won’t happen again. I promise.”

Green light. Turn right. Down this street. No, carry on. Turn left now. Deep breathe. Just carry on.

“Papa?”

Felipe was exhausted. He’d only had a couple of hours sleep before the school phoned and there was no way he was going to be able to sleep when he got back. He wasn’t going to be able to work tonight and if he had to call in sick again, Fernando was going to fire him for sure.

“Papa?”

“ _What_ Felipinho?” Felipe snapped.

“I’m sorry,” Felipinho whispered. There were tears in his eyes again and Felipe had to gulp down his own.

“I know,” Felipe said, gently. “I know. You do not have anything to be sorry about, ok? You are a good boy and none of this is your fault, I promise.”

He couldn’t carry on like this. He needed her back. He needed her awful cooking and the stories she told Felipinho and the mess she would leave about the house when she was working and everything. He needed everything.

The house was empty when they got home.


	2. Late Night Wanderings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neither parent really having a good time at work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not entirely sure if it's worth carrying on with this fic. It doesn't look like a happy one (there's a surprise). I've got a little more after this, so I'll post that and see how I feel after that.

“Am not having it Felipe,” Fernando said, crossing his arms. “You did not work three nights last week.”

“I. Have. Not. Slept. All. Day.”

“I cannot do anything for that,” Fernando said. “Is hard enough as it is without my staff spending half the time away. You are lucky to have this job.”

“I know.”

He knew this. He knew the only reason he had a job was because Fernando owed Raffaela’s parents too much to take away the only source of income from their grandchild. He knew he was pushing his luck just asking. But he could barely keep his eyes open, let alone _work_.

“Please, Fernando.”

Fernando rolled his eyes. “I will see if I can work things out with Jenson so you are in the reception tonight.”

“Thank you.”

Fernando closed his eyes and left, muttering to himself in Spanish as he did so. Felipe sighed and took Felipinho’s hand, pulling him through to the office of the small taxi company. The five year old jumped immediately into his usual arm chair. It wasn’t an ideal situation. Not in any sense of the word. But where else could he go? Felipe was in the process of sorting things out so he was able to work in the day – a task probably not helped by the fact he managed to annoy Fernando no matter what he did – but until then, Felipinho made himself a little nest in the arm chair to go to sleep in.

“Papa?” he asked when Felipe rolled over to him in the office chair.

“Yes?”

“Will you tell me a story?” Felipinho asked, wriggling in his little nest and trying to make himself as small as possible. “The one with the dragons?”

Felipe sighed. The one with the dragons was one of the few stories he knew and, though he knew he didn’t tell it half as well as Raffaela had, Felipinho seemed to like it.

“The one with the dragons,” Felipe said. “Do you want to do the dragon noises or should I?”

“You do them,” Felipinho said, sleepily.

“Alright,” Felipe said, gently. “Once a time, in a land not too far away, there was a very silly prince called Felipinho…”

 

_“You’re going to miss his birthday,” Felipe pointed out. “Our anniversary.”_

_“I know, honey, but look at it,” Raffaela showed him the brief again. And it was good. He would admit that. She had done good because she always did good. They were sending her in to be the chief reporter on the war that was looming in the east, and it was an amazing opportunity, but she couldn’t go._

_“Are you going to tell him or should I?” Felipe asked. “Because I do not think he is going to understand.”_

_“He’s a clever kid,” Raffaela said. “He knows what’s important.”_

_“And it isn’t this,” Felipe said, prodding at the sheets Raffaela was showing him. “It’s us. Please don’t go. Or wait. Wait until after his birthday. Please.”_

_“If I wait that long they’ll have given it to somebody else,” Raffaela said. “Felipe, I have been working towards this for years. Don’t you realise how amazing this is for me.”_

_“Yes, of course I do.”_

_“Then you just don’t want me to have it.”_

_“I want you to put our son first for a change,” Felipe snapped. The instant the words were out of his mouth he regretted him, but the thunderous look on his wife’s face said there was no way he was going to be able to take them back._

_“Everything I do is for him,” she said, her voice being strangely calm scaring Felipe even more than if she had shouted. “Don’t you dare try to tell me otherwise.”_

_“Fine,” Felipe said, holding his hands up. “But I am not telling him you are missing his birthday. I am not doing your dirty work.”_

“Felipe,” Fernando snapped, hitting the back of his head to wake him up. There was a phone ringing somewhere and Felipe reached out for it, but Fernando had already answered it. “Hello, West Bank Cars.”

Felipe groaned and rubbed his eyes, trying to wake himself up. He couldn’t have been out for that long. The coffee he’d left on the desk had gone cold. Maybe it had been a while.

Fernando finished on the phone whilst Felipe made another cup of coffee, radioing in to Jenson about the next pick up.

“You are lucky I was on a break,” Fernando said. “We would have lost a customer.”

“I was gone for five minutes,” Felipe lied.

“It does not matter,” Fernando said. “We cannot carry on like this. Go home.”

“What?”

“You will get paid,” Fernando assured him. “But there is no use you being here tonight. Go home.”

“I’m sorry,” Felipe mumbled again.

“I know,” Fernando said. “But this cannot keep happening. This is your last chance, ok?”

Felipe nodded, shaking Felipinho awake.

“You’re going to have to sort something better than this out, Felipe,” Fernando said, gentler this time.

“I know,” Felipe said. And he did know. Things were different when Raffaela was here. Her parents would look after Felipinho when she had to go away to work. But now she wasn’t here. And they wanted to leave. He could have gone with them. He _should_ have gone with them. But there was nothing he could do about that now.

 

Rob looked over the plans he’d been sent over and over, but there was no way he was going to get this done before the deadline. At what point he managed to give his bosses the impression that he could handle this kind of thing, he didn’t know, but there was no way he was going to rise to the challenge. He felt like he was going to sink to the floor and melt into a puddle of sick.

The war in the east had yet to bring its consequences to most people in this part of the world, but when you worked for the biggest weapons manufacturer in the country, it was a pretty big deal.

Rob worked for the “downstream” part of the company. The PR and making sure everyone thought the company was made of rainbows and kittens rather than bombs and destruction. He’d been something like the head of the department for a few years now, running a few campaigns but nothing of any importance. Until now.

It wasn’t the job he had pictured himself in when he had left school, not exactly a hippy but no pro-war either, but here he was now, trying to come up with another lie for the anti-war movements to unravel.

It paid well, though, which was the important part.

It was late. Too late for this. He’d been up since six in the morning trying to figure this out and he was not pulling another all nighter for this. He’d have a fag, then go to bed. This could all be sorted out tomorrow. Maybe.

It was hot and sticky outside, the weather having decided to give warmth a try and found that it actually feels very sickly. At least it’s not windy, Rob thought as he lit the cigarette and took a long drag of the toxic smoke.

It was late enough for the rest of the world to be asleep and Rob once again found himself looking at the benefits of working at night. If it wasn’t for the kids, he would have turned entirely nocturnal by now, he was sure. It was quiet, and peaceful. There was nobody trying to ask him to sign some petition. Nobody telling him he was the scum of the earth for doing his job. Silence.

Except there wasn’t silence.

There were voices coming from up the street but the electricity had been limited again and the streetlights had been dimmed so that Rob could barely see anything past a couple of doors down.

There were two figures, he can make out, one short and the other shorter.

If he were in a rougher part of town he’d go indoors now, smoking prohibited or not. But the crime rate was pretty low here and it was unlikely there was going to be any trouble.

“But Papa my legs are bored.”

Rob stopped, the cigarette half way to his lips. He knew that voice.

“I cannot carry you. You are going to have to walk.”

“I want to go to bed.”

“You can go to bed when we get home, Felipinho, alright?”

By the time they got close enough for Rob to make out their faces, he knows who they are.

“But I’m tired,” Felipinho whined, raising his arms for Felipe to carry him again.

“It is not far now,” Felipe said.

“Hey,” Rob said, waving as they went passed. They walked right by him and it felt rude to not say hello. Felipe just nodded, not really paying attention, but Felipinho stopped.

“Frankie’s papa?” he said. “Why are you here?”

“Felipinho, I thought you were tired,” Felipe said, his own eyes barely open. “Come on, let’s go.”

“It’s Frankie’s papa,” Felipinho called back to his father.

Felipe stopped and spun around, looking at the man he had nodded to. He did look familiar, but he was too tired for his brain to be working properly right now and, even if it was Frankie’s father, he wasn’t in the mood to stand on a stranger’s doorstep and have a conversation.

“Come on, Felipinho.”

“Are you alright?” Rob asked. The man looked about ready to drop dead. “I’m sorry again about earlier.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Felipe said. “Am just tired and need to get home.”

“How far is it?” Rob asked. He didn’t know _why_ , but it definitely didn’t look safe for the two of them to be walking that far at this time of night.

“Another couple of streets,” Felipe said.

“It is _all the way_ in Highfield,” Felipinho complained.

“Highfield?” Rob asked. “You’re walking to Highfield at this time of night.”

“Well I would be driving but I do not want to crash,” Felipe muttered. “Would be fine but _somebody’s son_ dragged me to school when I should have been sleeping.”

“Calm down,” Rob said, a little surprised at the anger from the small man. He stubbed out the cigarette on the door frame. “Wait a second. I’ll drive you back. Least I could do seeing as my ex ruined your sleep.”

“Nope, it is fine,” Felipe said, yawning as he held out his hand for Felipinho. “We can get there ourselves.”

“I can’t let you take a kid through Highfield at this time of night,” Rob said. “Especially when you’re in this state.”

“I am fine,” Felipe said again whilst Rob ducked inside to get his car keys from the peg in the hallway.

“Get in the car,” Rob said, a soft smile growing on his face. Felipe screwed his eyes shut and shook his head, but Felipinho was already bouncing into the car and it didn’t look like he had much choice.


	3. Morning Rush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Getting to school in the morning is easier for some than others.

Felipe was asleep by the time Rob reached Highfield. It was a lot busier here, guys in hoods roaming the streets in packs of fours or fives. There was no way he could have let him walk around here with a kid. There wasn’t a day that went past without another report on a crime in this part of town, even when they had tried putting a curfew on the place.

“Do you know where your house is?” Rob asked Felipinho, not wanting to wake Felipe in fear of being lashed out at again.

“I think so,” Felipinho said. “I think it might be down that way. It’s next to the green shop and it has a blue door.”

“Alright,” Rob said, heading in the direction the child had pointed in, even though he knew it probably wasn’t safe to follow his directions.

Surprisingly, Rob found the green shop, alerted by Felipinho bouncing about in the backseat and crying “there it is!” over and over. Rob stopped on the double yellow lines outside the house and shook Felipe awake.

It wasn’t so bad here. There were a couple of people on the corner at the other end of the street, but they hadn’t looked up when Rob had driven past. The street lights seemed to be doing a pretty good job, too. If Rob hadn’t driven through most of Highfield to get here, he wouldn’t have guessed that it was in a bad part of town.

“What?”

“You’re home,” Rob said, gently. “Or at least Felipinho thinks you are.”

Felipe frowned, confused, and looked about. He didn’t recognise the man, or the car, but they _were_ home, and Felipinho seemed quite excited about this.

“Are you ok to get inside?” Rob asked, because Felipe didn’t look like he was ok to walk two feet at the moment.

“Am fine,” Felipe said again, rubbing his eyes and undoing the seat belt. “Come on Felipinho.”

Rob watched as the pair of them got out the car and stumbled towards the house, his eyes flicking over to the group at the other end of the street, but they weren’t heading their way. Felipe fumbled with his keys, struggling to get them into the lock but, eventually, they were inside, and as safe as Rob could ensure they could be, and he pulled away, getting out of Highfield as quickly as he could.

 

The next morning came far too soon and Felipe woke to find himself on the sofa. There was a clatter and a crash from the kitchen, making him jump up, all thoughts of going back to sleep forgotten.

“Felipinho?” he called, uncertainly.

“I’m ok!” Felipinho called from the kitchen, where Felipe found him on the floor, rubbing his head, with half a dozen plastic bowls around him.

“What’s happened?” Felipe says, sitting Felipinho on the counter whilst he collected up the bowls.

“I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“It’s ok,” Felipe said. “Do you want breakfast?”

Felipinho nodded, still rubbing his head, and Felipe poured the sugar coated cereal into a bowl whilst his son started telling him about the dream he’d had last night. Still half asleep, he placed the bowl in font of Felipinho and checked the time to see how bad the damage was.

“Shit.”

“That’s a naughty word!” Felipinho pointed out.

“Eat quickly or you’re going to be late for school,” Felipe said, disappearing into the other room to try and find his shoes. Only then did he remember he’d left the car at the office. They were definitely going to be late. What a wonderful day this was turning out to be.

 

It was too early in the morning for the usual “friendly” faces to be out on the streets, having only disappeared a couple of hours ago, so rushing through the streets of Highfield wasn’t quite as dangerous now as it would have been the night before, but Felipe still wished he didn’t have to do it.

Felipinho skipped along beside him, struggling to keep up but still nattering on as if there was no tomorrow. Felipe forced himself to smile and nod along to the story, because it was better he was talking than not, but he really couldn’t care less about what he was going on about.

He thought he would be able to handle this but a couple of months down the line and that didn’t seem to be the case at all. Once he’d sorted things out at work… Once Felipinho settled back at school… Once they’d gotten enough to get out of Highfield… There were too many things he was waiting on to make things better and nothing he could do to speed them along.

“Papa?”

“Yes?”

“What happens if Frankie still isn’t my friend?” Felipinho asked. “I didn’t mean to hit him.”

“I’m sure Frankie will forgive you,” Felipe said, pressing the button at a pedestrian crossing about twelve times.

“But what if he doesn’t?” Felipinho asked. “I don’t want to stop being his friend, not really.”

“I am sure it will be fine,” Felipe said, taking Felipinho’s hand and dragging him across the road as soon as the cars stopped.

“But what _if_?” Felipinho asked.

“Then I am sure you will be able to talk to him,” Felipe said. He was certain of that, seeing as he never seemed to stop talking. “And then you will be friends again when he knows you did not mean it.”

“Really?” Felipinho said.

“Really,” Felipe insisted. “Now come on, you are going to be late.”

 

Rob was woken by a phone call and if this was his boss asking how the work was going to shoot somebody. It wasn’t. Even better…

“What now?”

“Frankie’s left his lunchbox at home again,” Lucy said.

They needed to sow Frankie’s lunch box onto his arm the amount of times he’d left it at home. Rob didn’t understand what was so hard about getting two kids ready for school, but apparently it was beyond Lucy’s ability.

“I’m on my way to drop Felix off now and then I’m going to the office,” Lucy said. “It’s on the side in the kitchen. Could you please take it in for me?”

Rob sighed, but agreed, like always. He knew he shouldn’t let her use him like that. He _knew_ , but he couldn’t stop himself. If she needed him or if the kids needed him, he’d be there. There was still a hope that she would see what a jerk John was and come back to him. He didn’t know how likely it was the hope came true, but he wasn’t going to give it up.

He still had the keys to the house and anybody else would have gone in and trashed it by now, but he wasn’t spiteful and he wasn’t going to win her back like that, so he went in and collected the food and left without doing anything more.

“Lunch for Master Smedley,” he announced upon arrival at the school reception, placing the lunch box on the desk.

“Two times in as many days,” the receptionist said, smirking up at him whilst she scribbled Frankie’s name on a post-it note.

“Yep,” Rob said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Sorry.”

“Have you ever thought about putting him in school meals?” the receptionist suggested. “Then there’s no chance of forgetting to bring it in.”

“That would be for his mother to decide,” Rob said. “But I’ll pass on the advice.”

He turned to go and almost walked into somebody else making their way into the reception.

“Sorry he is late,” Felipe said, not even noticing Rob as he hurried to the desk.

The receptionist gave none of the same pleasures to the second visitor, addressing Felipe with none of the smiles or friendly comments.

“Could you try to arrive on time in future?” she asked, taking another post-it note to scribble on.

“Yes, I did not really _intend_ for him to be late,” Felipe said, coldly. “Class One G.”

“I know,” the receptionist said, making a mark in the register.

“Right, be good, ok?” Felipe said, and Felipinho nodded, going with the receptionist to his class.

“Morning,” Rob said, once Felipe was finished.

“You again?” Felipe asked. “Sorry, that did not come out so well.”

Rob just laughed. “No, it’s fine. You look exhausted.”

“Need to go back and sleep,” Felipe mumbled. He was still debating whether he should go and pick up the car before he went home or just walk to work that evening. It was probably safer picking up the car now, or else he would probably be late tonight as well.

“Are you alright?” Rob asked.

“Just need to go back and sleep,” Felipe said again, brushing past Rob to leave. Just got to do about a million other things first, then sleep…

 

Really, Rob should have been getting another couple of hours sleep, but he could sleep when the project was finished.

The war meant big business, and it also meant groups of hippies pulling up outside the offices and the factories (one of the main reasons Rob liked to work at home). There was little chance anybody would take the protestors seriously, with their multi-coloured peace signs and remarkably catchy slogans, but he was expected to come up with something to counter that.

Every idea that popped into his head sunk almost immediately, and he was most productive in figuring out why the ideas from various lower PR strategists would not work than coming up with one that would.

Everyone else at the company was extremely pleased with the war – not the horror and death and destruction part, of course, but the terrorising, and killing and destroying part. The bit _before_ the sadness, when everyone was still angry. Rob couldn’t care less. Rob just wished everyone would stop making the public hate them.


	4. Tears in the Classroom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felipinho and Rob both have important problems to work out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has a bit of Dan in it. Yay!

Fernando was on his way out of the office after his shift had finished when Felipe arrived at the car park. He just rolled his eyes and gave him a small wave, sipping on the coffee that had been keeping him going for the last two hours of the night shift.

“Sorry again about last night,” Felipe tried but Fernando just waved it away. He’d heard all the excuses before and had given up offering replies to them, because Felipe clearly didn’t listen to him.

“Once more, Felipe,” he said. “Once more, and I do not care what your in-laws tell me. I won’t be able to keep you.”

“I know,” Felipe said. “Will not happen again.”

Fernando hummed, unconvinced, then went to his car. Felipe watched him leave before going to his own car.

Go home. Sleep. Pick Felipinho up from school. Get on.

 

His space beside Frankie on the carpet had been taken, Felipinho found when he arrived at his classroom. They all looked up when he walked in, and he tried to tell Frankie he was sorry with his mind but either Frankie couldn’t read minds or Felipinho couldn’t, because he didn’t reply. He sat at the back of the class where he couldn’t really see whilst the teacher started talking about something to do with animals.

He tried to listen, he really _did_ , but it was more important at the time to see if Frankie was ok. Frankie was listening to the teacher, putting his hand up to answer questions and not paying Felipinho any attention at all.

Mr Ricciardo – the other teacher who came to help with sums when the first teacher was busy – crouched down beside Felipinho.

“Are you alright?”

Felipinho nodded and pretend to pay attention, but they’d started talking about hedgehogs now and he didn’t know why.

“Do you want to sit outside for a little bit?” the other teacher Mr Ricciardo, said, gently.

“No thank you,” Felipinho said, quietly.

The other teacher nodded and went back to standing at the back of the class whilst Felipinho tried to pay attention and understand why they were talking about hedgehogs now.

Frankie didn’t want to be his friend anymore. He _really_ didn’t. And he wouldn’t get to talk to him until play time and that was _ages_ away.

He sniffed louder than he wanted to, trying not to cry.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” the other teacher said, gently, crouching down beside Felipinho again.

He nodded but he wasn’t alright. He was being loud and noisy and now some of the other children were starting to look at him.

“Come on,” the other teacher said, standing and holding out his hand for Felipinho.

Everyone was looking at him now, which was just making him cry more, so he stood and, holding the other teacher’s hand, went outside.

“Please don’t phone Papa again,” Felipinho said as soon as they were outside. “I really am alright.”

“Doesn’t look like you’re alright,” the other teacher said, smiling. “What are you crying for?”

“Nothing.”

“You’re crying for nothing?” the other teacher laughed. “That sounds a little silly.”

“Please don’t phone Papa again,” Felipinho said again.

“I’ll tell you what,” the other teacher said. “Why don’t you tell me what’s upset you, and I’ll try to sort it out for you, yeah? Is it because you’re late.”

Felipinho shook his head and wiped his eyes and nose again, getting snot all up his jumper. The other teacher pulled a face that made him laugh a little, but not much.

“Go on then.”

“I had a fight with Frankie,” Felipinho said, quietly.

“Yes, I heard about that,” the other teacher said. Mr Ricciardo hadn’t been in school the day before, going to his own school. “Is that what’s the matter?”

Felipinho nodded. “I don’t think he’s going to be my friend anymore,” he said. “Papa said it would be ok, but I don’t think it is. What if he already has a new best friend? He can’t have two.”

The other teacher laughed again, but it wasn’t funny.

“Right,” he said. “You wait here. I’ll go and get Frankie.”

“Frankie’s learning about hedgehogs,” Felipinho said.

“So he is,” the other teacher said. “But I don’t think this is going to take very long.”

The other teacher went back into the classroom, leaving Felipinho alone in the corridor outside. He wiped his eyes on the snotty jumper again, because Frankie was just going to think he was being silly. He _was_ just being silly, but he didn’t know what he was going to do if Frankie wasn’t his best friend anymore.

“Felipinho?” Frankie put a hand on the other boy’s arm until he looked up. “Why are you sad?”

“I didn’t mean to hit you,” Felipinho said. “And I didn’t mean to say nasty things. I just want you to be my friend again. _Please_.”

Frankie stared at him for a couple of moments and Felipinho held his breath, the tears that were filling his eyes blurring his vision.

“I thought we were friends,” Frankie said. “I said sorry.”

“See, I told you there was nothing to worry about,” the other teacher said.

“Really?” Felipinho asked. “You’re not angry at me?”

Frankie shook his head and patted Felipinho on the arm like he’d seen Daddy do to Mummy when she cried sometimes.

“Righto,” the other teacher said. “Let’s get you two back inside. I think there are some hedgehogs that need colouring in.”

 

_“So he liked it?”_

_“Loved it.” Felipe grinned at the computer screen, not quite able to describe how much Felipinho had loved his present._

_He’d quickly gotten over his mother not being there for his birthday. Children were easily enough to distract with toys and cake. He’d had a little party, invited a few friends over, there was nothing else he wanted._

_“I really wish I could have been there,” Raffaela said, and she seemed genuine._

_“He watched your report on the news,” Felipe said. “Was very excited.”_

_He couldn’t wait to tell his friends that his Mummy had said happy birthday to him, on the TV and everything._

_“I don’t think he understands what is going on,” Felipe added._

_“I hope not.”_

_Things were getting worse. It didn’t take a genius to figure that out. Nobody really knew what was going on, exactly, just a lot of people getting angry with each other and some big weapons companies cashing in on it all, but everyone understood what it meant._

_“But you’re coming home soon,” Felipe said. It was just another fortnight, and then Raffaela would be back with him, safe and away from it all._

_“Well,” Raffaela looked away from the computer screen and Felipe’s heart sank._

_“Well what?”_

_“This turned out to be bigger than we expected it to be,” Raffaela said. “They want me to stay out here.”_

_“For how long?”_

_“I don’t know.”_

_Felipe sighed, but there wasn’t really much he could say._

_“I miss you,” he said, eventually._

_“I miss you too.”_

The alarm went and for the first couple of seconds there was nothing but a need to shut off the alarm and go back to sleep. Then his memories started to catch up with him, and Felipe left the alarm on whilst he went through the things he needed to do before he could go back to sleep.

 

Claire was clever, confident, and cunning. She was also the boss’ daughter, so as soon as Rob saw her phoning, he went to make a coffee.

By the time he came back in from the kitchen, she was sat in his living room.

“Good afternoon, Claire.”

“Have you had any ideas?” she asked, not bothering with an explanation for her sudden appearance.

“None that will work,” Rob said. He was beginning to doubt anything would work. After the news centre had been hit, people had started to ask questions, and there was only so much longer Mr Williams could make them drag the investigation out for. It was all very well and good bombs being dropped on schools and such – those things didn’t hit the news – but when the news centre had been hit, everybody had known about it instantly.

“We need to hurry up,” Claire said.

“We could say the weapons were taken from the military there,” Rob suggested. It was the only thing he hadn’t scrapped at yet, and he was pretty sure the only reason he hadn’t scrapped it was because he hadn’t thought too much into it.

“Makes the military look weak,” Claire said, shaking her head. “Doesn’t look good.”

“Could say they were en route to the military when they were taken,” Rob suggested, though that was putting themselves to blame. It wasn’t quite as bad as _we sold weapons to terrorists_ though, so it didn’t sound too bad.

“We wouldn’t be able to go down that route until the government officially announces we’re at war,” Claire pointed out. “People will ask why we were sending stuff over there if the military was only there for humanitarian aid.”

“And how long do you think that will be?” Rob asked. It was all just waiting to see who moved first at the moment, and he didn’t like it.

“Within the next few weeks,” Claire said. “Dad thinks it’ll be before the end of the week.”

“See if we can get them to announce the findings of the investigation at the same time,” Rob suggested. “Then we come in and say we were sending things over in preparation etcetera, etcetera.”

“We could,” Claire said, slowly, trying to come up with a reason why that wouldn’t work. When one didn’t occur to her, a smile crept over her face. “You’re catching on quick, Smedley.”


	5. The Other Teacher

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mr Ricciardo wants to help.

“Well, they look happy,” Lucy said as Frankie and Felipinho come out of the classroom at the end of the day, chatting away as if there was nothing wrong in the world.

Felipe just hummed in agreement, watching the boys collect their lunchboxes and rush over. He was glad. He really was. Felipinho was happy, and that was the most important thing.

“Papa,” Felipinho called, rushing over. “Mr Ricciardo wants to talk to you.”

“Yeah?” Felipe asked. “Why does he want to do that?”

“Ummm, I don’t know,” Felipinho said, guiltily, as he led his father over to where the other teacher was waiting.

Mr Ricciardo looked a little young to be a teacher to Felipe, but he’d never really questioned it. As Felipinho had told him over and over again, he wasn’t a _real_ teacher. He was just a helper, the _other_ teacher, and he went to school too.

He smiled and waved as Felipe was dragged over, pointing the last two children in the direction of their parents before greeting Felipe.

“Sorry to call you over,” Ricciardo said. “I was just hoping we could have a bit of a chat. See how things are going.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong, so much,” the teacher admitted. “I don’t know how much Felipinho has explained, but I work with selected pupils, pupils who are struggling to… um… _integrated_ into school.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Felipe said.

“Would you like to come inside so we can have a chat?” the teacher asked.

“I’m not really sure if I have time,” Felipe said.

“That’s fine,” the teacher said. “But would it be possible to arrange a meeting, then? I am trying to speak to all the parents of pupils I work with, to see if there are any problems which the school would have to work with you to resolve.”

“I thought you said there’s nothing wrong,” Felipe said.

“Nothing immediately wrong,” the teacher said. “Your son gets on well in lessons, extremely well. But we also have a responsibility to make sure he is social and things and, over the past couple of months we’ve seen that becoming a bit of an issue. He doesn’t get into fights, or at least not usually, but he just doesn’t seem to be… he doesn’t seem to be happy.”

“Not happy?” Felipe asked.

“It’s completely understandable, of course,” the teacher said. “We’d like to work with you. Make sure you’re both coping with this.”

“We’re coping fine,” Felipe said, suddenly defensive. Ok, so he wasn’t coping fine, but he didn’t need some teacher who was still in school himself to come and tell him a load of shit that was supposed to make him feel better. “Is there anything else?”

“No,” the teacher said, quickly. “No, that’s all. But I was hoping we could-.”

“Good,” Felipe said, taking Felipinho’s hand and marching him away from the school.

“What was that about?” Lucy asked, trying to stop Frankie fussing his little brother.

“Nothing,” Felipe muttered, ignoring any other attempts to talk.

“Bye, Frankie!” Felipinho called back, hurrying to keep up with his father.

“Bye!”

 

Things were definitely getting worse. Rob could see that when the company’s last three months profits were published online (there was no big announcement, he was glad to see, but he was pretty sure the hippy protesters would be out there waiting for them to arrive). Sales had shot up, and they were still climbing. If this wasn’t enough proof that they were at war, he didn’t know what was.

It was his night to have the boys and he knew he really should check if he was supposed to be picking them up from Lucy’s or is she was bringing them to him, but he hadn’t gotten around to it yet. Now he had finally sorted out what they were going to do at work, he wanted to get everything finished as soon as possible so he didn’t have to think about it.

He _would_ think about it, of course. The protesters weren’t going to buy it and he was going to have to put up with them yelling and throwing eggs at him, but he wasn’t going to have to think about it seriously for a while.

He hit send in a very overdramatic manner and leaned back in his chair. That was it. All done. There was nothing more he could do and he was just going to have to wait and see how well this went.

 

Dan returned home to the flat he shared with another trainee teacher from his class after talking to the parents of some of the other children he kept a close eye on. Sebastian was already making dinner and, by the looks of it, it was pasta again. Not that Dan minded too much.

“I have a problem,” Dan admitted, watching Sebastian cook.

“Have you found another child you want to adopt,” Sebastian asked, not turning round to speak to him. “Because if you have, I would seriously think again about what you want to do with your life.”

“No, it’s not that,” Dan said. “It’s a parent.”

“You have found a parent to adopt?” Sebastian asked.

“No,” Dan said, pushing himself up to sit on the counter to watch his friend cook. “I think I offended him. And now I don’t know what to do.”

“Oh, it does not really matter,” Sebastian said, pouring the boiling water down the sink. “As long as you teach the kid right, what is the problem?”

“It’s one of the problem kids,” Dan said. “No, not a problem kid. One of the kids with problems.”

He really needed to get that right in his head. They weren’t _the_ problem. They were the ones _with_ the problem.

“And?”

“And I think the problem started at home,” Dan said.

Strictly speaking, they weren’t allowed to talk about any of the kid’s cases, but Dan and Sebastian had already made a pact. Nothing said in the flat left the flat. And, really, it was only talking to the other that stopped them both going insane with worry.

“Here,” Sebastian said, handing Dan a bowl of pasta. “Eat this and tell Uncle Sebbie all about the problem.”

Dan rolled his eyes, but took the pasta and followed Sebastian to their small table.

“Right so, you know Massa?”

“The news presenter?” Sebastian asked.

Dan nodded. “He’s her kid.”

“Ooh, that’s not so good,” Sebastian observed, digging into his pasta. “How’s he taking it?”

“As well as can be expected, I suppose,” Dan said. “But he’s definitely changed. He’s quieter now, doesn’t talk to the other kids so much.”

“I do not blame him.”

“So I tried to talk to his dad about it, but he didn’t want to listen,” Dan continued. “I mean, the kid was crying in class about some argument he’d had with his friend, and then kept saying how he didn’t want me to phone his dad.”

“You think there’s something going on at home?”

“No,” Dan said. “No, that… that wouldn’t happen. But I just don’t think the dad is coping. I mean, why should he be coping? He’s lost his wife. But I’ve got a duty of care, you know?”

He’d been thinking about this for a while, watching Felipinho in class and his father on the playground at home time. Nothing had gotten any better since the attack. In fact, it had probably just become worse, looking in from the outside. They needed help, but Dan got the feeling the father didn’t want it.

“So what are you going to do?” Sebastian asked.

“I don’t know,” Dan admitted. “I’ll try speaking to the father again. Arrange a meeting or something, I don’t know. I just…” He shrugged. He shouldn’t be interfering with people’s lives, but if it was going to stop Felipinho falling behind in school (or as behind as you could get when you’re five) he was going to have to.

 

“Well you’re on time, that’s a start,” Jenson said, grinning when Felipe arrived at the office. “Hey little man. High five.”

Felipinho shuffled round so he was stood behind his father, Felipe’s hand gently playing with the hair on the back of his head.

“Alright then,” Jenson said slowly. “Nando says I’m on the switch tonight. No excuses.”

“I know,” Felipe said. “Sorry about yesterday.”

“Nah, all is forgiven,” Jenson said. “Nando just likes to stress about things not being official.”

Felipe smiled weakly, but he knew Jenson didn’t understand how much that meant to him.

“Right,” the Brit said, pushing him out of the seat. “I’m going to let you put that one to bed and do a coffee run.”

There was no need to go out for a coffee, having all the supplies in the office, but Felipe didn’t bother pointing that out, letting Jenson disappear. As soon as he was gone, Felipinho dived into his arm chair.

“Want you to tell me a story,” he said.

“Of course you do,” Felipe said, gently, bringing the chair over again, as had become routine. “Let me guess, the one with the dragons?”

Felipinho nodded, pulling the blanket he’d brought with him up to his chin. “And you do the noises, Papa.”

“Alright,” Felipe sighed. No matter how many times he told this story, he knew he was never going to get sick of it. “Once a time, in a land not too far away, there was a very silly prince called Felipinho…”


	6. War!

WAR!

Rob groans when it came on the television. They were official at war. He always knew this was going to happen, of course, but he was also kind of hoping it never would.

It was a week after Rob had finished his work, and time for his carefully laid out plans to be put into action, but he wasn’t a part of that until Claire organised some press conference he was probably going to have to drag himself to. He had no idea how long that was going to take, but it probably wasn’t going to be too long.

“Boys! Breakfast is on the table!” Rob called up the stairs, where Frankie and Felix were supposed to getting up.

He’d no idea what this meant for anybody around here. More jobs, he guessed, as the army would be recruiting. Whether or not they went ahead with conscription was another matter that Rob really didn’t want to think about.

Frankie and Felix rushed into the kitchen, both of them happy and ignorant as they raced into the kitchen. It was probably best he explained this to them before John got a chance, but he didn’t know what to say.

 

“War?” Felipe asked, returning to the office after his shift.

Jenson nodded, his face as white as a sheet. It had come in on the radio he had playing quietly in the background and a quick check on the internet had proved it to be true. They were at war.

“But… how? Why?”

Jenson shrugged. He hadn’t really done that much research into it.

Felipe lifted Felipinho out of the chair, the child blinking sleepily and yawning.

“Is work still on tonight?” Felipe asked, moving swiftly onto more immediate problems.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Jenson said. “Oh, Fernando said he wanted to talk to you about something and to come a little earlier tonight if you could.”

“What about?” Felipe said, uncertainly.

Jenson shrugged again. “No idea. Hey, maybe you’re getting moved onto the day shift?”

“Maybe,” Felipe said. Or maybe Fernando had had enough of him and he was getting fired.

 

Once again Rob managed to successfully do the school run without forgetting anything. It wasn’t difficult. Two children. One school bag. Two lunchboxes. Hardly rocket science.

On the playground, war was the word on every parent’s lips. A few of them gave him filthy looks, which Rob returned without a second thought. Of course he didn’t _want_ this. It benefitted him, yes, but he didn’t _want_ this.

He chose not to try to mingle with the other parents, following Frankie to the other end of the playground, where he’d found Felipinho and was now starting a race.

“Hi,” Rob said with a wave to Felipe, who looked as exhausted as ever. They hadn’t spoken since the late lunchbox meeting.

“Good morning.”

“It’s Felipe, right?”

Felipe nodded, and Rob could tell he didn’t want to engage in a conversation, but it was keeping the other parents at bay, so Felipe was going to have to put up with him.

“Rob,” he said, holding out a hand for Felipe to shake.

The Brazilian took it, barely paying him any attention.

“So,” Rob said, slowly, glaring at the woman that was about to try to engage him in conversation. “Sorry again about the other week.”

“It is fine,” Felipe said. “He understands.”

“That’s good,” Rob said, struggling to come up with something else to say. “I think they understand a lot better than we think they do.”

“Maybe.”

“How long?” Rob asked. This wasn’t really what he had in mind when he’d decided to have a conversation with him, but he couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“A couple of months,” Felipe said.

A couple of months. A lot had happened in a couple of months, Rob realised. A couple of months since he’d been given the biggest project of his life. A couple of months since everyone realised that there actually was a war going on in the East. A couple of months since the news centre had been bombed…

“It’s got to be tough,” Rob said, watching the boys race. “I can’t really imagine what you’re going through.”

“We are coping,” Felipe said again. And he’d say it again and again and again until it, hopefully, became the truth.

“That’s good to hear,” Rob said. “No more walking through Highfield in the middle of the night, I hope.”

“That was one time,” Felipe muttered. “And just because I had not slept the day before. Because _somebody_ dragged me in to school.”

“Hey,” Rob said, defensively. “It was your kid that hit mine.”

“Because your child stole his ball.”

“Yours was not sharing.”

“Yours said heaven did not exist,” Felipe snapped.

Rob opened his mouth to argue again but there was nothing he could say in reply.

“I’m sorry,” he said after a short, awkward silence. He really should have thought about that before he had started the argument. “I should have thought. Sorry.”

And he was supposed to make people other people look good? It was no wonder why people threw eggs at him.

Felipe didn’t say anything, wishing the teachers would just come and let the children inside so he could leave. He needed sleep but, then, didn’t he always?

“You know, if you ever need any help, I could drop him off or pick him up or something?” Rob suggested.

“It is fine, thank you,” Felipe said through gritted teeth. Because who hadn’t already told him that? He had ever busy body at the school telling him they could help if he ever needed it. He’d never take any of them up on their offers. He doubted any of them would even be there if he needed someone to pick Felipinho up “or something”. They only said it to make themselves feel better. If it were for any other reason, they weren’t meeting it.

“That’s good,” Rob said.

“You know, I can look after him,” Felipe snapped, sick of Rob’s pitiful tone. Sick of them all and their pitiful tones. “I looked after him before she died. I was the one with him day in and day out. Why do you think, now she is not on this planet, that it becomes more difficult for me to do what I have always been doing? Because it does not. I have not suddenly become incapable of looking after my child. She was not here before. I was. She was off in the East, getting herself blown up.”

“Blown up?” Rob asked, almost choking on the lump that had appeared in his throat. He swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. No. No, even if this was what he thought it was, it was _not_ his fault.

“Yes,” Felipe said. “Not here. Not with us. Doing her job. And I am doing mine. Like I have always done. Nothing changes. So, no, I do not need your help. I do not need anybody’s help. I am coping fine.”

“I… I didn’t mean… I’m really sorry.”

“Of course you are,” Felipe mumbled, his eyes on the classroom door as it opened and the teachers came out. “Everybody is.”

 

Dan greeted all the kids, getting a high five from most of them. Felipinho and Frankie were at the back of the pack, not wanting to finish their race, and Dan stopped them before they could go inside, pulling them to the side so they weren’t in anybody else’s way.

“Felipinho, can you go and get your Papa a second. Is he here?”

“Why?” Felipinho asked, suspiciously.

“I just need to have a quick chat with him,” Dan said, patting Felipinho on the back when he ran off, back into the playground, returning a few moments later with his father. “Alright, you two can go inside now. Sit down quietly for the register.”

“What is the matter?” Felipe asked.

“I was wondering if I could have that chat with you,” Dan said. “Not now, of course. But after school today, if that’s possible for you?”

“That is not possible,” Felipe said. And it really wasn’t, if he was going to have to be at work early for whatever it was Fernando needed.

“Alright. When is possible?” Dan was not going to let this go. Sebastian had been asking him every night if he’d finally spoken to Felipinho’s dad and he was getting pretty sick of it. Felipinho had shown no signs of improvement over the past week – though the fact he was now friends with Frankie again was better.

“Is this important?” Felipe asked.

“Yes, actually,” Dan said. “It’s very important for Felipinho’s progress at school. Is tomorrow afternoon good for you?”

“I suppose,” Felipe said. “How long is it going to take?”

“It shouldn’t be too long,” Dan promised. “It’s only taken about ten minutes with other parents.”

“You have had meetings with other parents?” Felipe asked, confused and relieved at the same time. He couldn’t be sure, but it sounded like this wasn’t somebody else trying to pity him and stick their nose in his life.

“Yeah,” Dan said.

“Oh, alright then,” Felipe said. “Will see you after school tomorrow then.”


	7. Company Policy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I've settled with this and, clearly, it's going on. But feedback would be really useful please thank you. :)

Rob had a message on his answering machine when he got back about a meeting at work and barely reached the office in time, falling into his seat at the table whilst everyone else stared at him.

“School run,” he explained, as if they all didn’t already know. “Sorry.”

Claire nodded, already having figured out when Rob would arrive when she arranged the meeting so he would only just be able to make it on time.

“Well, as you know, we are at war,” she said. “The findings of the investigation into the attack on the news centre are due to be released this afternoon at one and we release our statement at one thirty. We then have a press conference at four and a section on the News at Ten this evening. Valtteri’s taking that, but we’re going to need you Rob, and Pat at the press conference.”

It didn’t surprise Rob that she’d managed to get this much done, because this was Claire and this was what she did, but when Rob saw his schedule for the next week or so, he couldn’t help feel a little shocked at how much he was supposed to be doing now things were moving. The list of meetings and interviews looked more like that of an actor trying to push his latest film than a PR guy trying to keep a war under control.

Claire went through what contracts they were working towards and what they could and couldn’t say, and what the press should know by the time the press conference came around. Rob tried to pay attention, but he found his mind wondering, again.

They were responsible for ruining lives. And not just blank faces, people he didn’t know and never would know, but people he saw every week. People who lived in the same city as him. He knew that shouldn’t make them matter more, but it did.

“And I think that’s everything,” Claire said, snapping Rob back to the boardroom. “Unless Rob has anything to say.”

Pat and Valtteri both turned to him, but he just shook his head, so they continued to pack away.

“Claire, can I talk to you for a second?” Rob asked, watching the two other men leave.

“Yeah, sure.”

“The people who died at the news centre,” Rob said. “Were any of them based here? In the city?”

“I don’t know off of the top of my head but I can find out,” Claire said. “Channel Six was there, I think, and that’s based just down the road from here, so I guess so. Why?”

“My son’s best friend’s mother died in the attack, I think,” Rob said. “I mean, I’ve only just found out, which is why I’m only telling you this now. I don’t know if you could find that useful but...”

“Your son’s best friend?” Claire said, slowly. “So who’s looking after him now, if the mother’s gone?”

“His dad,” Rob said.

Claire thought for a moment, nodding at the ideas in her head. “You know it would be really good publicity if you two were friends.”

“He hates me,” Rob said.

“Invite him out for coffee,” Claire suggested.

“Guys don’t go out for coffee,” Rob said.

“Invite him out for a pint then,” Claire said. “I don’t know. How do guys make friends? Go and do that.”

Rob was still unsure, and Claire could tell.

“Look, you said your kid and his kid are best friends,” she said. “Then do some little play date thing for the two of them. Don’t make it about him. Make it about the kids and then get chatting to him. Human interaction can’t be that hard, even for you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rob asked.

“Nothing,” Claire said. “Now, is there anything else?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Then go and read through the files I’ve given you,” Claire instructed. “This press conference is the start of something very big for Williams and it needs to go smoothly.”

 

The press conference could have gone better but, as Claire kept saying, it could have gone a lot, lot worse. There were no eggs, this time, which made a nice change from the last three press conferences Rob had taken part in, and most of the questions were directed towards Claire, being the deputy head of the company.

But no amount of charm and well thought out answers could distract the media from the apparent facts. Williams had let an extremely dangerous weapon fall into enemy hands, which was later used to kill innocent, western people. This was an issue that they were not going to ignore.

Rob came out of the conference feeling very much as if he was going to pass out, but there were no sticky substances in his hair so, like Claire said, it wasn’t _that_ bad.

“That could have been worse,” Claire said for the third time on the drive back to the company offices.

“So, what now?” Valtteri asked. “We carry on with the schedule?”

“Yes,” Claire said. “Nothing changes unless I say so, alright.”

_What are Williams doing to ensure the same things doesn’t happen again?_

“And what if things don’t go so well at Ten?” Pat asked.

_Do you think it’s right that Williams knew we were preparing for war but did nothing to warn the general public?_

“It will be fine,” Claire said. “Just stick to what we’ve gone over and you have nothing to worry about Valtteri. Rob, tell them.”

Rob was still not paying attention. He’d been able to focus during the press conference, to Claire’s relief, but he seemed to have switched off at some point between now and then.

_What is Williams doing to help the families that have been affect by its lack of security?_

“Rob?”

“Hmmm?”

“Everything is going to run fine, isn’t it,” Claire said.

“What? Yeah, sure. I guess.”

It didn’t sound very convincing, and the look Claire gave him told him he hadn’t said the right thing, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.

The car stopped outside the offices and the four of them climbed out. Valtteri and Pat immediately disappeared to continue on with the schedules Claire had prepared, but Rob was still in a day dream. This wasn’t going to do at all, and if he didn’t snap out of this mood soon, he was going to get them all in trouble.

“Are you alright?” Claire asked.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” Rob asked, defensive.

“You don’t seem yourself,” Claire said.

“I’m fine,” Rob insisted, following Claire inside.

“Is it something that was said at the press conference?” Claire asked, running through everything that had been said in her mind. It hadn’t seemed that bad to her. Though the questions were tough, it was nothing they hadn’t expected.

“No. Well… It’s just… It’s true though, isn’t it,” Rob said, eventually. “We’re murderers.”

“We’re not murderers,” Claire said, pausing at the reception desk to sign the two of them back into the building. Security was at its highest now, ensuring no protestors tried to cause trouble here.

Claire had already been through all this with Rob when he started working for the company, and she had nothing new to say. She understood his concerns – of course she did – but there really was no alternative.

“What our customers decide to do with our products is nothing to do with us,” she said. “Say you worked for a company who made knives. Would you feel bad is someone used one of those knives to kill someone else?”

“It’s not the same,” Rob said.

“I suppose not,” said Claire. “But what can you do? There’s a demand, so we supply. If it wasn’t us, it would be someone else.”

“There’s a kid out there without a mother, Claire,” Rob said. There were probably hundreds of kids out there without mothers.

“Yeah, I know and it’s sad,” Claire said, trying to sound sympathetic but missing it by miles. “But there’s nothing we can do about it now and, to be honest, there wasn’t really anything we could do to prevent it. If it wasn’t our weapons it would have been somebody else’s.”

Rob knew this, of course. Claire had already given him pretty much the exact same speech before. It was true, but it still didn’t feel right. But then if profiting off of Felipinho’s mother’s death was wrong, why was he fine with profiting off anyone else’s death? He wasn’t going to win this argument, with Claire or with himself.

“You need to go and speak to your son’s friend’s father,” Claire said.

“Felipe.”

“What?”

“His name’s Felipe,” Rob said. “And I’ll do it after school today. I’ll phone Lucy and ask her if I can pick up the boys.”

“Good,” Claire said. “Now could you go now and see that Valtteri’s prepared for the slot tonight.”

“Alright.”

“And just…” Claire gestured at nothing but Rob had no idea what she was trying to say. “Just keep your head on, alright? What you do for the company doesn’t define you or your morals. Two different lives. Alright?”

“Alright.”


	8. True Identities

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please ignore awful chapter title.

Felipe was already at the school when Rob arrived. Lucy had been slightly relieved by Rob’s offer to pick up the boys, so he showed up at quarter to three, wanting to be a little early so he had as much time as possible to talk to the other father.

Felipe sat on one of the benches, coat pulled close around himself to protect himself from the chilling wind. There was nobody else there and Rob saw no reason to go over and speak to him. He tried to focus on what Claire had said. He was not responsible for this man’s misery.

It didn’t really work.

“Hello,” Rob said, sitting beside Felipe.

Felipe rolled his eyes, but he knew he couldn’t ignore him. “Hello.”

“Sorry about earlier,” Rob said.

“You spend a lot of time saying sorry,” Felipe said. “Think maybe you should think about what you are doing _before_ you upset someone.”

“Yeah,” Rob said. “Just stress. Work, you know?”

“Yeah,” Felipe said, barely listening. He didn’t know why he’d come to the school so early, other than the fact he couldn’t stand to be home alone anymore.

“Hey, I was wondering…” Rob said. “Felipinho hasn’t seen my house, has he? I mean, he always goes to Frankie’s mum’s to play, doesn’t he? Maybe he could come to mine this weekend. I’ve got the boys whilst Lucy takes some time alone with her boyfriend. I’m sure having Felipinho won’t be too much trouble.”

“I can look after him,” Felipe said.

“I know,” Rob said. “You told me. It’s just a play date. I’d been thinking about inviting some of Frankie’s friends over for a while. Just never gotten around to it.”

He didn’t _enjoy_ lying to people, no matter what his CV seemed to say. And he _did_ feel bad for it, but there was a flicker of a smile on Felipe’s face and that couldn’t really be a bad thing.

“Suppose,” he said. “When?”

“I don’t know,” Rob said. “He could come over at lunch on Saturday. Stay for his tea, if he wants.”

“Is a fussy eater,” Felipe warned.

“So is Felix,” Rob said. “I’m sure I’ll be able to manage.”

“Alright then,” Felipe said. It couldn’t really be a bad thing. If Rob had Felipinho for that long he would probably be able to put in another shift for Fernando. If he still had a job by the weekend, that was.

“Here,” Rob said, taking out one of the business cards in his wallet and handing it to Felipe. “Just in case you need to phone me.”

Felipe flicked the card over in his hand, not really looking at it too closely, and put it in his pocket.

“We’ve got half an hour until school finishes,” Rob pointed out. “How about we go and get coffee? It’ll probably keep us warmer than if we waited here.”

“Am going to wait here,” Felipe said, his eyes back on the classroom door. He didn’t have enough money to waste on coffee and, if he were honest, he would rather sit in the cold than pretend to be alright to please a stranger.

“Alright,” Rob said, standing. “Suit yourself. See you later.”

 

Fernando was waiting for Felipe when he arrived to work that afternoon. There was no way Felipe could tell by the look on his face what he wanted to talk about, and he had no idea if that was a good thing or not.

“One week,” Fernando said.

“Huh?”

“One week’s notice and then you’re off this shift,” Fernando said.

Felipe opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, holding on to Felipinho’s hand tightly as he tried to squirm away.

“Fernando, I _need_ this job,” he settled on, eventually. Pleading wasn’t going to get him anywhere, but it had to be worth a shot. “You can’t… I haven’t done anything, not really. You cannot fire me.”

“I’m not firing you,” Fernando said, confused. “You’re just not on this shift anymore. Kevin’s leaving and you can have his spot on the day shift. That is, if you still want it.”

Felipe went back to opening and closing his mouth, no idea what to say. Fernando smirked, taking that as a yes, and went back to going through the books.

“Thank you,” Felipe said, quietly.

“You still have a week here, remember,” Fernando said.

“Of course. Thank you.”

“It’s nothing,” Fernando said. “It was clear that this arrangement could not last much longer.”

Things were going right. They were actually, finally, going right.

Felipe fell into what had now become Felipinho’s arm chair, his shift not due to start for another half an hour, with Felipinho on his lap.

“Did you hear about the investigation?” Fernando asked.

“I have not heard about anything,” Felipe said. “I have been asleep all day.”’

“I would have thought they would phone you,” Fernando said. “The investigation into the attack on the news centre. The results were announced this afternoon.”

“What?”

“They really did not phone you?” Fernando asked. “I thought the families would have been the first to know.”

“What happened?” Felipe asked. He didn’t know why he was so desperate to know. Whatever it was wasn’t going to bring Raffaela back. It wasn’t going to change what had happened.

“It was a Williams weapon,” Fernando said. “The company said they were sending it over to our army but it got taken during the move. I think they should maybe have more security when moving dangerous weapons, but then why would anybody ask what I think, hey?”

Felipe was frozen. It could have been stopped. He’d always just assumed the terrorists or whoever they were had made their own weapons, but if it was someone on _their side’s_ fault…

“Why were they even moving dangerous weapons anyway?” Felipe asked.

“Preparing for the war, I guess,” Fernando said. His interest had turned back to his book keeping, not really paying attention now he had delivered his news and said his piece to go with it.

“But that was months ago,” Felipe said.

Fernando shrugged. “Maybe they knew something we didn’t,” he said. “Started preparing early.”

“I thought the only reason we were _at_ war was because of the attack,” Felipe said. “This doesn’t make any sense.”

“You are probably asking the wrong person all of this,” Fernando pointed out. “I just watch the news. Go and ask somebody in the government or someone who works at Williams.”

Felipe just rolled his eyes. It wasn’t really as if it even mattered. There was nothing anybody could do to change what happened and knowing the truth didn’t mean the right thing was going to happen now, either.

“Well, maybe now you can get some closure or something,” Fernando said. He’d no idea what he was talking about, but it seemed like the right thing to say. “Get on with your life.”

“Is not that easy,” Felipe mumbled.

“Then go and speak to someone from Williams,” Fernando said. “Send an angry email. Threaten to go to the press with your story or something.”

“What story?”

“I don’t know,” Fernando said, abandoning his book keeping. “But bad press is the last thing they want at the moment. They’re on good publicity overdrive at the moment. If you ever turned on the TV, you’d see.”

“Wait a second,” Felipe said. The name Williams was definitely familiar. Shifting Felipinho over, Felipe pulled Frankie Smedley’s father’s business card from his pocket. “Do you know anything about Williams?”

Fernando shrugged. “I watch the news. Why?”

“Does the name Rob Smedley mean anything to you?”

Fernando snorted. “Of course. He’s some top PR guy for the company. Seriously, Felipe, do you never watch the news?”

“Not if I can help it,” Felipe said, but he wasn’t really listening, staring at the card in his hands as if it might suddenly grow teeth and bite him.

He must have known. This guy must have known whilst he’d been chatting away on the playground and inviting Felipinho into his home. He’d known what had happened, but said nothing. _Done_ nothing.

“Are you alright?” Fernando asked.

“I am fine,” Felipe said, putting the card back in his pocket. He didn’t want to think about that now. Fernando was right. He just needed to get on with things for now. Deal with that later.

 

Rob wished Claire had picked someone other than Valtteri to do the News at Ten. Though his assistant was perfectly capable of remembering what to say and doing exactly as he was told, he didn’t come across as the warmest character, even though Rob knew, in real life, he was.

Rob watched the interview, cringing a little, waiting for Claire to phone. It was late and he really just wanted to go to bed having gotten up early with the boys that morning. But he knew Claire would want to go over things as soon as possible and he was going to be ready.

“Well?”

“Not Valtteri next time,” Claire agreed. “Can you take tomorrow morning on Channel Six.”

“I would rather not,” Rob said. If he was going to convince Felipe to trust him, he would rather spend as little time as possible on the television, especially not Channel Six.

“Well, it’s either you or Valtteri,” Claire said. “And after that performance, I don’t think he’s going to be ready for tomorrow morning, and we can’t cancel with Channel Six. They’ll never speak to us again.”

“Alright,” Rob said. He was going to regret this, but it didn’t look like he had a choice. “I’ll do it.”

“I’ll email you the details,” Claire said. “You should get some sleep. You’ve an early start tomorrow.”


	9. Breakfast On Channel Six

The alarm went off way too early for Rob’s liking, but he didn’t dare hit snooze. He lay in bed for a couple of minutes, just staring at the ceiling and mentally preparing himself for the day ahead. He’d done interviews alone before. They hadn’t gone so well… He couldn’t imagine this will go much better, especially with the loss Channel Six suffered.

Rob got ready as he always did. There was no point making this out to be anything more than an interview on Williams’ role in the attack. As far as they were concerned, all Williams had been doing was helping _their_ army prepare for a war. Their only mistake was lack of security.

He wondered if Felipe would see it that way.

There was little chance in Claire’s “be friends with the victims” plan if Felipe saw Rob on the television, defending Williams, and Claire had to know that. Sure, there was no way Valtteri could do the interview and cope with the shit storm that would come afterwards, but it made more sense to Rob if Claire did it. But then the boss knew best. Of course.

Surprisingly – thankfully – there was nobody waiting outside the Channel Six building when Rob arrived, but he doubted he’d be greeted with the same sight on the way out.

“Smedley for Williams?” he said to the smiling receptionist, whose smile soon turned to a thin, straight line across her face.

“Take a seat. Someone will be down shortly.”

Rob sat down, smiling again at the woman in an attempt to prove he wasn’t here to murder her, like the glare she gave him suggested. He couldn’t say it was unexpected. Unprofessional, yes, but not unexpected.

Someone came down fifteen minutes later and greeted Rob with a smile that was in no way welcoming, but Rob smiled back anyway and shook the man’s hand.

“Everyone at Williams is terribly sorry for what has happened,” Robs said as he was lead through the winding corridors of the building to the news studio.

“We didn’t just lose staff that day,” the man said. “We lost friends too.”

“I understand,” Rob said, hoping that was the right thing to say. His guide didn’t reply, and Rob couldn’t tell if he believed him or not. “I can’t imagine what you’re going through.”

He fell back on the same phrase again, because he never knew what to say in times like this, and it had worked once, a while ago after a friend lost a child. That hadn’t been his fault though. He’d just been a friend with no ulterior motive.

Still, the man didn’t reply, and Rob followed him silently, not wanting to make things any worse for himself.

One of the show’s producer’s assistants came to meet them outside the green room, where an eighties pop band were forming a reunion and a historian had come to share her views on what the war would do to the economy.

“Your slot has been moved from seven fifty to eight twenty,” the assistant informed him. “And due to the flux of messages, we’ve stretched it from twenty minutes to thirty. Pop Diva’s set has been shortened, you’ll be glad to hear.”

“Thirty?” Rob asked. That wasn’t the bad part though. The flux of messages sounded much more daunting and he didn’t fancy facing it.

“Shouldn’t be that much of a problem, should it?” the assistant asked with a fake smile that gave Rob the impression the changes had always been in place. “Just wait here and someone will fetch you when you need to be on set.”

 

“Guess who’s on the news this morning,” Fernando said when Felipe came back into the office. Jenson had arrived and was sat in the swivel chair with his laptop on his laptop and Fernando stood behind him.

“King of Spain,” Felipe said. It seemed like a good guess.

“Some guy from Williams has come in to answer questions,” Jenson said. “Nando said nobody even phoned you. That’s pretty shit.”

“I don’t even want to hear it,” Felipe said, waking Felipinho.

“You should sue,” Jenson suggested. “I would.”

“That’s a stupid idea,” Fernando said, lightly smacking Jenson on the back of the head. “What good would that do?”

Felipe was about to agree that this was a stupid idea when he started to think about what good that actually would do.

“Do you think I could?”

Fernando’s jaw practically hit the floor. “You cannot be _serious_.”

“Why not?” Felipe asked. “Could maybe actually afford proper child care. Get us out of Highfield.” Especially after Rob had been so judgmental of him living in Highfield. Felipe shuddered. He didn’t even want to think about that man. “Do you think I could, Jenson?”

Jenson shrugged. “No harm in asking.”

“Shush!” Fernando said, his eyes back on the laptop screen. “It’s on.”

 

Rob thought he might be sick as he was sat on the sofa opposite the two presenters. Either one of these could have been given the job in the East. Either one of these could have died and _no_ , it _wasn’t_ his fault, but it might as well have been.

“No need to look so worried,” the woman laughed during the advert break before the section. “I’m sure it’s nothing that will surprise you too much.”

Rob nodded, swallowing the bile that was rising up his throat. Thirty minutes. He could do that.

One of the producers signalled the end of the break and the presenters read out the scripted introduction.

It was already hot in the studio but Rob could feel himself going even warmer the more they said, outlining the details of the investigation’s findings and what had been said in the press conference the day before.

He checked his watch. Twenty eight minutes. He could do twenty eight minutes.

“We’re joined now by Rob Smedley from Williams who’s going to answer some questions,” the woman said, turning to Rob. “But first let’s hear what actually happened.”

“Yes, well,” Rob took a deep breath and went through the lies that had been perfectly crafted in the series of emails between himself and Claire. A hoard of weapons had been taken. They had a date and a time and a location. They absolutely, one hundred per cent, did _not_ intend to supply weapons to known terrorists.

 

Felipe couldn’t take his eyes off of the screen, even though he wanted to. Fernando and Jenson kept looking between him and the screen, watching for his reaction, but there wasn’t one.

How could he do that? How could he tell Felipe how sorry he was one second and go on the news _defending_ them the next?

“It’s Frankie’s papa,” Felipinho said, sleepily, catching sight of Rob. “What’s he doing? Is he like mummy?”

“No,” Felipe said, his voice coming out like a croak. “No, he isn’t like mummy at all.”

_“The only thing we can do right now to make it up to the families and friends of those who have died is to continue to support the war effort and ensure whoever did this does not get away with anything else.”_

“Ha,” Fernando said, turning away from the screen. “Would not be surprised if they were selling weapons to the terrorists. Would do anything for a bit of money.”

Fernando liked to think he knew exactly what was going on in everyone’s heads and sometimes – just sometimes – it annoyed Felipe. Today, he didn’t have the mind space to pay attention to his boss and friend’s wild theories.

“Then what is he doing?” Felipinho asked. “Papa? If he isn’t like mummy, why is he on the news?”

“He’s just talking about something from his work,” Jenson said when Felipe didn’t answer.

“What?” Felipinho asked, tugging on his father’s top to take his attention away from the screen.

“ _We are working with the families of the victims to try to ensure they receive as much help as they need.”_

“HA!” Fernando cried, even louder than before. “Would not even be saying all of this if the investigation had not been public. Would not even admit what they had done.”

“Fernando,” Jenson said, watching Felipinho squirm. Even if the kid didn’t know what was going on, he must have been able to recognise the tone of Fernando’s voice.

“They must have known all along,” Fernando said, pointing to the laptop. “They would have known when the weapons got stolen that they were stolen. If they really cared, they would have admitted what had happened when it happened. Not now.”

“Shut up,” Felipe snapped, finally managing to look away. “What happened is nothing to do with you. Did not affect you.”

“I lost a friend that day too, you know,” Fernando pointed out. “You are not the only one who cared about Raffaela.”

“Do not have to listen to this,” Felipe said, shifting Felipinho up as he stood. “To him or to you. I will see you later.”

 

When the half an hour eventually finished, Rob found he couldn’t actually stand by himself and stumbled out of the studio with the help from one of the producers who took sympathy on him.

It was the questions. He knew what he was going to get, of course he did, but he hadn’t expected so many. Or maybe he had. But hadn’t been prepared for them.

There was a restroom down the hall which he rushed to. It was probably just him stalling himself – he didn’t feel _that_ sick – but if it meant he didn’t have to go and face the crowds that had likely formed outside, he’d sit with his chin against the toilet all day.

“Are you alright?” the producer asked.

“I’m fine,” Rob called back, his eyes closed. He was perfectly fine. He was…

He was going to have to go out there at some point. The longer he left it, the worse they would be. He knew that. But he still couldn’t get himself to stand up.

Eventually, Rob dragged himself away from the toilet. He hadn’t actually been sick and he wasn’t feeling any better, but the longer he stayed here, the worse it would be. He took a deep breath at the door, trying to prepare himself better than he had done the questions.

“Are you alright?” the producer asked again.

“As good as I can be,” Rob said, stepping out of the building. The crowd had been split to make a narrow pathway to the car park, but it wasn’t wide enough to stop people pulling on him, trying to get him to stop. He pulled his hood up, not to stop the cameras that flashed from both sides but the missiles that came raining down on him. He’d given up looking for the police, knowing they were going to be no help, and just made his way as quickly as possible to his car.

Chants of “murderer” accompanied him as he left.


	10. Best Friends and Name Calling

“I don’t want you being friends with Frankie anymore,” Felipe warned, stopping Felipinho from rushing off to play with his friend.

“Why not?” Felipinho asked, confused.

“Because,” Felipe said, tugging on his son’s arm to bring him away from Frankie.

“Because what?” Felipinho asked.

“Because I said so,” Felipe said, trying not to snap because the last thing he needed was for Felipinho to burst into tears again.

“But Frankie is my _best friend_ ,” Felipinho said. “I like him.”

“There are lots of other children in your class,” Felipe pointed out. “You’re friends with them aren’t you? One of them can be your best friend.”

“Not anymore,” Felipinho said, grumpily. “I’m not friends with them anymore because they laugh at me and call me a cry baby.”

“What? Since when?” This was the first Felipe had heard of any of this. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong on the playground before school but, now that he thought about it, Felipinho had only ever been playing with Frankie and his little brother. They _were_ best friends though. Felipe had never thought there was anything wrong with it.

“Since Mummy went to heaven,” Felipinho said, quietly. He knew it was going to upset his father to talk about mummy. It always did. But he _did_ ask. And it was the truth. Since mummy went to heaven and he’d been crying lots.

“Why didn’t you tell me they were calling you names?” Felipe asked, gently.

Felipinho shrugged.

“Right,” Felipe said. “Well, I have my talk with Mr Ricciardo today, don’t I? I’ll talk to him about the other children. But I still don’t want you to be friends with Frankie anymore.”

“But _why_?”

“Because his papa is a bad man,” Felipe said. “That is why he was on the news today. And I don’t want you to be hurt. Promise me you will not be friends with Frankie anymore.”

“But he’s my best friend,” Felipinho said, quietly.

“I know,” Felipe said. “But it is safer this way. You will be happier. Promise me.”

“Ok,” Felipinho said, quietly. “Promise.”

“Good,” Felipe said, smiling.

 

Felipinho sat in his usual spot on the carpet, near the front, and it wasn’t his fault when Frankie sat beside him. Frankie was trying to tell him about some new toy he’d gotten but Felipinho wasn’t listening, no matter how cool the toy sounded. He didn’t reply, waiting for the teacher to start the lesson so then Frankie would have to stop talking and maybe it wouldn’t be so hard to not be his friend anymore then.

Frankie didn’t seem to notice that they weren’t friends anymore, unless he didn’t really mind, because he was still smiling when the teacher told him to shush so they could take the register. Felipinho was going to have to _tell_ him they weren’t friends anymore, which didn’t really sound like fun, but if it was going to make Papa happy…

They had the number cubes out and were making patterns. It was a noisy lesson with lots of people shouting and arguing over who got the red cubes (There weren’t many red cubes and not everybody could have them. Felipinho didn’t want the red cubes. Red was not a nice colour). The teacher was busy with reading books and Mr Ricciardo was helping one of the other children. He wasn’t going to get told of for being nasty.

“We can’t be friends anymore,” Felipinho told Frankie quietly, moving the blue cubes over to his side of the table.

“What?”

“Papa says we can’t be friends anymore,” Felipinho said. “Sorry.”

“That’s just silly,” Frankie said. “Why not?”

“Because your papa is a bad man,” Felipinho said.

“Is not.”

“That’s what my papa said.”

“He was probably thinking about John,” Frankie said. “He’s not my _real_ dad. Not really.”

“No, he meant your real one,” Felipinho said. “He was on the news. We saw him. Papa said he was on there because he was a bad man, so now I can’t be friends with you anymore.”

“That’s not fair,” Frankie said.

“I know.”

“But I want to be friends with you.”

“So do I,” Felipinho said. “But Papa said… and I promised.”

Frankie was quiet for a little while, fiddling with the white cubes that he was _not_ going to let Felipinho have if he wasn’t allowed to have the blue ones.

“We could pretend,” he said, quietly.

“Pretend?”

“Pretend to not be friends,” Frankie said. “But we could be friends at school, just not when your dad is there.”

“But that’s lying.”

“It’s just pretending,” Frankie said. “Mummy and John were doing it for a little while with Daddy, but then he found out that they really were friends. But we won’t let them find out. It will be our secret.”

Felipinho thought about it. He really didn’t want to lie, but he didn’t want to not be friends with Frankie either.

“Alright,” he said. “But he can’t find out. And neither can your papa, in case they ask each other.”

“Yeah,” Frankie said. “Can I have some of the blue ones now?”

“Only if I can have the white ones.”

 

When Rob got out of the shower, he had half a dozen missed calls from Claire and was half surprised to not find her in the room waiting for him. He hadn’t spoken to her after getting back, just wanting to get in the shower and be scrub the morning off of him. It probably wasn’t a good idea.

As Rob was weighing up the pros and cons of phoning his boss back, Claire called again, and this time he knew he was going to have to answer.

“What happened to you?”

“I was just in the shower,” Rob said.

“I watched the segment,” Claire said. “You looked awful.”

“Why thank you.”

“That came out badly,” Claire said. “You did alright though. As alright as it could have been, on Channel Six.”

“Of all the news stations, Claire,” Rob said. It was a stupid idea in the first place. The channel, though it was supposed to be independent on this kind of thing, was obviously going to be working against them. They were never going to get a fair trial there and they had probably made themselves look even worse.

“I know,” Claire said. “But there’s nothing we can do about that now. We’ll put that behind us and move on. Can you cover Valtteri on-?”

“What happened to the schedules?” Rob asked.

“Things change, Rob,” Claire said. “I need you this afternoon.”

“Can’t,” Rob said. “I’m picking the kids up. I can work from home but I’m not taking my kids to any work things. They don’t need to see that.”

“Right,” Claire said, slowly. “Ok, I think I may be able to shift some things about. Don’t worry about it. Are you seeing Massa today?”

“Probably,” Rob said.

“Are you still working on that?”

“ _Yes_ ,” Rob said.

“Good,” Claire said. She sounded stressed and Rob wasn’t at all surprised, but there was nothing he could do to help. He had the kids and the kids came first. “Right. I’ll phone you again tomorrow to fill you in.”

“Thank you.”

“And if you could write something for The General News that would be great,” Claire said quickly. “I’ll email you the details. Have a good day.”

“What? Claire, don’t-.” She hung up before Rob could protest. He fell against the wall behind him, eyes closed. This job was going to kill him, he was sure of it.

 

_“When is Mummy coming back?”_

_Felipe looked up from where he was preparing dinner to find Felipinho looking up at the calendar with concentration etched into his face. There had been a countdown, but it was long past zero now. Felipe had put off telling him, thinking maybe he wouldn’t notice if they stopped looking at the countdown together, but obviously that hadn’t worked._

_“I don’t know,” Felipe said._

_“She was supposed to be back on zero,” Felipinho said, standing on his toes to get a better look on the calendar. “We have to be past zero by now?”_

_“Yeah,” Felipe said, abandoning the vegetable chopping and washing his hands. “But some things changed.”_

_“What things?” Felipinho asked._

_“Well… there’s more work to do than Mummy thought there was,” Felipe said, slowly, kneeling down on the floor so he was at Felipinho’s height. “So she has to stay and do more work.”_

_Felipinho frowned, looking between his father and the calendar._

_“So she isn’t coming home on zero?” he asked._

_“No.”_

_“Oh,” Felipinho said, quietly. “When will she be back then?”_

_“I don’t know,” Felipe said, again, standing. He couldn’t stand to look at the disappointment on Felipinho’s face anymore and went back to the carrots._

_“Can we talk to her on the computer?” Felipinho asked. “I miss her.”_

_“I miss her too,” Felipe said. “We can talk to her tomorrow, yeah?”_

 

“Hey,” Rob called, giving a small wave as he crossed the playground. He was running a little later than he wanted to be, trying to get the statement Claire wanted written before he had to pick up Frankie.

Felipe didn’t acknowledge him and Rob’s stomach flipped again. He’d watched the news. Of course he had.

“I’m sorry,” Rob said, when he got closer. “I guess you saw that this morning.”

“This is all your fault,” Felipe muttered. “She would still be here if it was not for you.”

“Hey,” Rob said. “I am not Williams. That’s just my job. I don’t pretend I like it but it plays the bills.”

He wasn’t going to pretend that Williams hadn’t done a stupid, awful thing. Felipe didn’t know exactly how bad it was, thankfully, and that everything he said about Williams was true.

“You do not have to do it,” Felipe muttered.

“No,” Rob said. “But I have to pay the bills and I have to make sure Frankie and Felix have clothes and toys and I have to feed myself and if the job lets me do all those things then I’ll do the job.”

“Fine,” Felipe muttered. “Is nothing to do with me.”

Rob watched him, trying to figure out something else to say, but they’d blown it. There was no way Claire’s stupid plan was going to work now. She should have thought of that but _no_.

“Do you still want me to look after Felipinho tomorrow?” he asked, eventually.

“Do not think Felipinho would like that,” Felipe said. “Seeing as he is not friends with Frankie anymore.”

“What?”

“They are not friends anymore,” Felipe said with a small shrug. He was watching the classroom door again, even though he wasn’t going to be able to run off today because of Ricciardo’s stupid meeting.

“Why not?”

“Felipinho does not want to be around the man that killed his mother,” Felipe said, bluntly.

“You can’t do that,” Rob said, all thoughts of trying to make it up to Felipe gone. “That’s not fair on either of them. Do what you want to me but don’t hurt my kid.”

“Maybe you will think about this next time you try to defend murderers,” Felipe spat.

 

“Mr Massa,” Dan said, smiling in what he hoped was a settling manner. “Would you like to take a seat?”

Felipe sat beside Felipinho whilst Dan sat on one of the tables. The class teacher was in the room, busy at the drying racks, looking over pictures.

“Righto,” Dan said, clasping his hands together. “I guess I should explain who I am. Like I said last week, I work with pupils who are not having the easiest time at the moment, and Felipinho falls into that group. Again, like I’ve already said, I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about, but it’s better to help them now whilst it’s still a small issue so it doesn’t become a bigger issue later on.”

“Felipinho said he’s being bullied,” Felipe jumped in. It was important and he didn’t want to forget about it.

“Right,” Dan said, slowly. That was one of the things he needed to get onto, but he’d been hoping to talk about some other things first. “Felipinho, why don’t you tell us exactly what’s going on, mate. You must know better than us.”

He’s seen some of the name calling, of course, and had given the children punishments for it, but he got the feeling it was more than what he’d seen.

Felipinho squirmed in his chair when the adults looked down at him and wouldn’t look at them.

“Sometimes I would cry lots and then people would call me silly,” he said, quietly. “And that wasn’t very nice.”

“Tell us exactly what happened, Felipinho,” Dan said, gently, trying to get him to look up at them.

“First it was just laughing,” Felipinho said, refusing to look up at them. “Then they called me a cry baby. And I’m _not_ a cry baby.”

He wasn’t. He didn’t cry all the time and when he thought he was going to cry he tried not to.

“We know,” Dan said, when the father didn’t even open his mouth. “We know you’re not. Who was it?”

“Everybody.”

“Everybody, alright,” Dan said. “Do you know who started it?”

Felipinho shook his head.

“Right, we’ll get to the bottom of that,” Dan promised. “For now you just have to ignore that. You stay with your friends and none of the other children matter. Right. I just wanted to talk about a couple of other things that might be affecting Felipinho’s social development. Mr Massa?”

“Hmm?” Felipe said, looking up, quickly.

“Let me just start here…”


	11. Blame

“Felipinho’s dad said you’re not friends with Felipinho anymore,” Rob said whilst they waited for Felix to come out of nursery.

“Yeah,” Frankie said.

“Why not?”

“Felipinho doesn’t want to be my friend anymore,” Frankie lied. “It’s ok though. I don’t mind.”

“You don’t?”

Frankie shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I have lots of other friends.”

“Right,” Rob said. He was not going to let his work affect Frankie and Felix, no matter what. As soon as that started to happen, he was going to have to step in.

They knew what he did but, as far as they were concerned, Rob was “on the good guy’s side”. They wouldn’t understand the truth and they didn’t need to. It had nothing to do with them.

“If it ever upsets you, you can tell me,” Rob said. He felt like it shouldn’t be this easy. But they were both young, and friendships, though they meant a lot more than most adult friendships, were made and lost all the time.

“I will,” Frankie said with a knowing smile.

Rob knew whose fault this was. John. Because if John had just let kids be kids and not had to ruin the concept of heaven for a five year old, Rob would never have even met Felipe and Felipe would never have known he was related to Frankie. If Frankie was upset by all this, it was John’s fault. And Rob was going to tell Lucy that as soon as he saw her.

 

Cooking was one of the few things that hadn’t changed. Felipinho would sit on the counter, stealing chunks of food when he thought Felipe wasn’t looking, and Felipe would make awful jokes and pretend to drop things to make him laugh. Even when he was in a rush, Felipe wouldn’t miss this part of the day for the world.

“You know what Mr Ricciardo said?” Felipe asked, catching Felipinho “sneaking” another chunk of pepper from the chopping board. “That you tell him when someone makes you sad?”

“Yeah?”

“You tell me as well, ok?” Felipe said. “I need to know these things, ok?”

Felipinho nodded, looking down at the floor. He was going to try one last time and if it didn’t work he was going to go with Frankie’s plan to just pretend.

“Not being friends with Frankie makes me sad,” he said, quietly.

Felipe stopped what he was doing, dropping the frying pan back onto the hob. Felipinho didn’t understand. He couldn’t. And he couldn’t explain it either, not without upsetting him even more.

“I know,” he said, gently. “But you will not be sad for long. Mr Ricciardo will help you make new friends, won’t he? And then you will have a new best friend.”

“I don’t want a new one,” Felipinho said. “I like Frankie. I don’t understand. Just because his papa is a bad man, doesn’t mean he is. He’s _nice_.”

“I know,” Felipe said. He couldn’t really argue with that. “But being around Frankie means being around his papa and I do not want you getting hurt.”

“I _won’t_ get hurt,” Felipinho insisted.

“Enough,” Felipe said. “I have told you that you are not going to be friends with Frankie anymore and that’s the end of it.”

Felipinho sighed. Grown ups were stupid and he hoped he was never going to be one.

“Ok,” he said, taking another chunk of pepper. They were going to have to go through with Frankie’s plan, and much better than his mum and John had done it or they would both get in trouble.

“Good,” Felipe said. “And I do not want to hear any more about Frankie, ok?”

“Alright.”

 

“And this is _my_ fault,” Lucy asked.

Rob really didn’t want to have this argument out on her front door step but if she wasn’t going to let him in then he was going to have to because he needed to do this.

“No, I’m saying this is _his_ fault,” Rob said. “He shouldn’t be around the kids.”

“That’s pretty rich coming from you,” Lucy said. “Who’s the one that got egged today?”

“That was work,” Rob said. “And it had nothing to do with the kids. They weren’t there and they didn’t see it. Your so called _boyfriend_ talking about dead bunnies, on the other hand.”

“So called?” Lucy laughed. “Why are you still saying that, Rob? John’s my boyfriend. My partner. The person I want to spend the rest of my life with. Why can’t you just accept that?”

“You used to say that about me,” Rob pointed out. “No, this isn’t about me. This is about the kids. He is upsetting them. Upsetting their friends. And I am not going to let that happen. I’ve tried speaking to Felipe.”

“You’ve been speaking to Felipe?” Lucy cut in.

“Yes.”

“Great. That’s another thing I’m going to have to deal with,” Lucy snapped. “Just leave Rob.”

“No,” Rob said. “I want custody over the kids.”

“You what?”

“You heard me?” Rob said. He really didn’t want to have this conversation here but if Lucy wasn’t going to let them have a normal conversation like adults then he was going to have the conversation here.

“We _agreed_ ,” Lucy hissed, suddenly wary of the children, who were both inside and watching TV.

“That was before I knew the facts,” Rob said.

“What _facts_?”

“That you were going to let them be around someone as arrogant and pig headed as _him_.”

“Arrogant and pig headed? Seems like I have a bit of a type,” Lucy said. “Why don’t you just piss off? You’re making a scene.”

“Well I wanted to come inside but that would annoy you’re so called boyfriend,” Rob said and if he actually listened to himself he would probably mistake the voice as belonging to a five year old but he didn’t care.

“You’re unbelievable,” Lucy said. “If you’re serious, you can contact my lawyers. I am not giving them up, Rob.”

“You want to take this through the courts, fine,” Rob said. “You’re just prolonging their suffering.”

“Piss off, Rob,” Lucy snapped one last time, going inside and slamming the door shut behind her.

 

“Fernando said you’re going onto the day shift next week,” Jenson said when Felipe arrived at work that evening. “Congratulations, I guess.”

“Thanks,” Felipe said. “Think it is probably for the best for everyone. Especially this one.”

Felipe lifted his son a little higher. Felipinho was refusing to walk, still coming out with the same line that his legs were bored. Felipe had eventually stopped arguing with him and carried him from the carpark to the cab office.

“Probably,” Jenson said. “I’ll miss you two though.”

“Are going to the day shift, not Canada,” Felipe said, laughing. He put Felipinho down in his chair but Felipinho just frowned at him, still annoyed about Frankie, probably.

“I know,” Jenson said. “But it’ll still be different. Do you know who Nando’s replacing you with?”

“No idea,” Felipe said. “Still time to get your preferences in there.”

“Preferences?” Jenson said. “No idea what you’re talking about.”

“Hmmm,” Felipe said, but they both knew the truth. He took the free chair, dragging it back over to where Felipinho was. The child was still not happy, but Felipe was past caring now. He was get over Frankie eventually. “Do you want the dragons story?”

“No.”

“Then what story do you want?” Felipe asked.

“I don’t want _any_ story from you,” Felipinho said.

Felipe sighed and leaned back in his chair. “Then who _do_ you want a story from?”

Felipinho sat up, considering his options, but there weren’t many. After a couple of seconds, he spotted Jenson doodling and pointed at the Brit.

“Jenson cannot read you a bed time story,” Felipe said. He knew the only reason Felipinho had picked Jenson was to spite him. He didn’t even like him. “Now, are you going to tell me what story you want because, if not, you are not going to have one.”

“Do not want _you_ to read me a story,” Felipinho said. “Want Jenson to read me one.”

“Jenson _cannot_ read you a bed time story,” Felipe said again.

“I don’t mind,” Jenson piped up, putting his doodle down. “If you cover the switch for ten minutes I can.”

Felipe shot him a look and Jenson realised this wasn’t about the bed time story at all, but Felipinho was bouncing in his chair and pointing, repeating “See? _See_?” over and over again and it was too late to take back the offer now.

“Thank you, Jenson,” Felipe said through gritted teeth, swapping places with his soon to be ex-co-worker.

“Right,” Jenson said to Felipinho. “I can’t promise I’ll be as good as Papa, but I’ll try…”


	12. Compensation

“This isn’t good,” Claire said the next morning when Rob came into the office. “How did you let this happen?”

“He saw me on the news Claire. There wasn’t really anything I could do to avoid it,” Rob said through gritted teeth. He was doing his best to pretend he wasn’t annoyed but it wasn’t easy when Claire carried on as if the most important thing in all of this was Williams. His son had lost his best friend because of them and all Claire could think about was the company.

“Do you think you could try speaking to him?” Claire asked.

“Oh shit!” Rob cried. “Damn my useless brain and its inability to come up with obvious courses of action. It’s clear to see why you’re the boss.”

“Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit,” Claire said, dryly.

“Well I apologise for being stupid then,” Rob snapped back.

“Look, if you’re friends with Massa then this is going to do wonders for the company image,” Claire said. “You can’t buy that kind of good image. Go back to that school and make it up to him.”

“How? How do I do that?” Rob asked. “We killed his wife – don’t tell me otherwise – and I’m in charge of make it sound like a good thing. So how do I convince him otherwise?”

Claire went to answer straight away but stopped, apparently changing her mind. Rob waited with his arms crossed, ready to say “I told you so”.

“Well,” Claire said, slowly. “You’re not going to do it here, are you?”

“You don’t know!” Rob cried. “There isn’t a way, is there? We fucked that up and there’s nothing we can do about it. Which would be fine, but you’ve also ruined Frankie’s friendship as well and I am not standing for that.”

“He’s five. I am sure he will get over it,” Claire said, still trying to come up to an answer to Rob’s original question. There had to be a way to make it up to him. “Compensation?”

“We’re going to compensate his wife back, are we?” Rob asked.

“Everyone likes a bit of money, Rob,” Claire said. “I thought you would have realised that by now. We give him some money, he gets to carry on with life as best he can. He’ll let his son be friends with yours again. We look like the good guys…”

“This isn’t going to make us look like the good guys,” Rob said. This was going to look like some awful publicity stunt, which is _was_ but it wasn’t supposed to look like it. They may as well go round to his house with a box of chocolates and a “sorry” card.

“Have you come up with anything better?” Claire asked.

“No,” Rob said, slowly.

“Then go round to him and offer him compensation,” Claire said, shooing Rob out of the office. “Give him my contact details and I’ll sort things out with him, seeing as you’re clearly incompetent.”

“Show up, uninvited at somebody’s house and offer them money?”

“It’s what most people dream of,” Claire said. “Now come on. Out. Before you give me a head ache.”

 

Felipinho seemed better in the morning. He was still quiet, but he had no complaints as Felipe drove them back to the house, falling asleep in the car, as had become the norm on Saturdays. Hopefully he’d stay asleep and Felipe would be able to catch a couple of hours sleep before the day began. Saturdays generally were a mess and it would be helpful to have a nice playdate for Felipinho to run off to but _no._

As quietly and as carefully as possible, Felipe lifted Felipinho out of the car and carried him inside. Felipinho wriggled a little, pressing his cheek against his father’s chest with his eyes still closed.

“Papa?” he mumbled once they were inside.

“Sh-sh-shush,” Felipe said, gently, preying this didn’t mean he was awake properly.

“Can I sleep in your bed?” Felipinho asked.

“Of course,” Felipe whispered.

If Raffaela were here, she’d moan at him for that. Rightly, too. It had taken them ages to get Felipinho to sleep in his own bed and any invitation into their double bed was a sign of weakness threatening to throw them back to the temper tantrums of a year ago. But if it meant he would get some sleep…

Once he was under the covers, still in the pyjamas he’d been wearing back at the office, Felipinho curled as small as possible, his thumb – which Felipe had given up trying to tease out of his mouth – stuck firmly between his teeth. Felipe sighed, replaced his jeans with something more comfortable to sleep in, and joined Felipinho beneath the covers.

Almost as soon as he closed his eyes, he felt a hand reach up to gently play with his hair.

“Papa?” Felipinho asked.

“Yes?”

“I like your stories really,” Felipinho said in a stage whisper, his breath on Felipe’s face making him shiver. “Sorry I made Jenson tell me a story.”

“It’s ok,” Felipe replied, his eyes still closed. “Now go to sleep.”

“Na night.”

“Na night.”

 

_It was Frankie’s birthday soon and Felipinho could see the invitations in his hands when they arrived at school and had been waiting excitedly for him to give them out all day. Finally, it was the end of the day and Frankie stood proudly at the front of the class once the teacher had finished reading the end of day story._

_One by one, Frankie read out the names of the other children, handing out the invitations in their little blue envelope. Felipinho waited patiently at the front of the class, grinning up at his friend. Six. Six was almost half way to being an actual grown up. It was no wonder Frankie was so happy._

_By the time Frankie had handed out the last of the invitations, the entire classroom was a buzz of noise as everyone talked about the party, but Felipinho was empty handed. His grin fell a little as his friend sat back down beside him._

_“How come I can’t come?”_

_“Because you’re not my friend anymore.”_

_“But that’s just pretend,” Felipinho said. “I am your friend really.”_

_“I don’t want it to be pretend anymore,” Frankie said. “It’s not right to lie to grown ups.”_

_“But we have to be friends,” Felipinho said. “You’re my best friend.”_

_“Not anymore,” Frankie said. “Jessica is my best friend now.”_

_“Jessica?”_

_“Yeah,” Frankie said with a little shrug._

_On cue, the girl in questions sat down on Frankie’s other side, pulling his arm._

_“I can’t believe we’re going to Disneyland.”_

_“Disneyland?” Felipinho asked, his lip wobbling now. “You’re going to Disneyland for your birthday.”_

_“Yeah,” Frankie said. “Sorry you couldn’t come, but Dad says it’s for my friends only.”_

_Felipinho sniffed, trying to stop himself crying, but it was too late._

_“Don’t be such a cry baby,” Frankie said._

_“I’m not a cry baby,” Felipinho spat, rubbing his eyes. He glanced around the classroom but Mr Ricciardo was nowhere to be seen. Felipinho couldn’t remember what day it was so he didn’t know where the teacher would be._

_“Cry baby, cry baby,” Frankie sang, Jessica joining in with him almost immediately._

_“I’m not a cry baby,” Felipinho said, standing. He needed to find Mr Ricciardo, even if the teacher was at his school. He would have to go there because Mr Ricciardo had to tell them he wasn’t a cry baby and-_

Felipinho was woken by knocking coming from downstairs. Felipe was still asleep on the other side of the bed and Felipinho sat up, looking around the room and trying to figure out what had just happened.

It was just a dream. Frankie was still his friend and, if he was going to go to Disneyland for his birthday, he would take Felipinho, _not_ Jessica.

Grinning at his own silliness, Felipinho lay back down and closed his eyes again. Maybe he would have a nice dream this time about Disneyland and-

The knocking downstairs made him open his eyes again. Felipe didn’t stir, but the knocking didn’t stop this time, so Felipinho crawled out of the bed. He wasn’t going to _open_ the door. He wasn’t allowed to do that. He was just going to see who was there so he could decide if Papa needed to be woken up.

He crept down the stairs as quietly as possible, watching the door shake with the knocking. He stood on his toes, but the looking hole was still too far up, so he took the step from the kitchen (which Papa did _not_ use for getting things out of the top cupboard) and set it down. Still not reaching the right height, he found the bag of potatoes, set that down on top of the step, and balanced on his toes on top of it all.

It was Frankie’s papa. Felipinho frowned, looking to see if Frankie was with him, but he couldn’t see anything but Rob. Had Frankie told him about the plan to pretend?

One of the potatoes slipped and rolled out of the bag, causing Felipinho to slip and land with a thud at the bottom of the pile, the potatoes now falling like a landslide. Felipinho sat up, rubbing his head, whilst his father rushed down the stairs.

“What are you doing?”

“Frankie’s papa is at the door,” Felipinho said, wincing at the pain in his head.

“Where did you bump?” Felipe said, picking up his son and kissing the spot Felipinho pointed to. “Why didn’t you wake me?”

“I was going to,” Felipinho mumbled, pressing his still sore head against his father’s chest whilst Felipe kicked the stool and potatoes out of the way to open the door.

“What do you want?”

Rob stepped back, a little surprised that he’d gotten an answer after knocking for so long.

“Can I come in?” he asked. He’d planned what he wanted to say on the way over here, but, whilst knocking for practically hours on the door, Rob had forgotten all his plans in favour of swearing at the idiot who wouldn’t answer.

“No.”

Great. This again.

“Look, I’m sorry,” Rob said, trying to remember the best he could what he had planned. “I am sorry for everything that has happened. Not Williams. Me.”

“I do not accept your apology,” Felipe said, trying to shut the door.

“No, wait,” Rob said, quickly, sticking is foot in the door. He’d seen people do that before and never realised how much it hurt. “Look, I’ve been speaking to my boss. I want to do something for you. And she’s said we can give you compensation, for loss of earnings and everything else.”

Felipe stopped, peering at Rob and waiting for the trick. Rob waited patiently, hopefully. If this didn’t work, Claire was going to kill him.

Felipe shifted Felipinho so he was sat more comfortably on his hip. “How much?”

“Is that a yes?” Rob asked, trying to stop himself from smiling because it really wasn’t appropriate.

“It is a how much,” Felipe said, not letting his own glare fall from his face.

“Enough,” Rob promised. “I can give you my boss’ contact details, if you like. It would be quicker for you than you contacting me and me contacting her.”

“No,” Felipe said. “I want this to go through you.”

He had no idea what he was doing, but he wanted Rob involved in this so called apology. Sure, it might have been the company that was in the wrong here, and every employee was to blame as much as another but it was Rob who had sat with him on the school playground and pretended there was nothing wrong.

“Ok,” Rob said, slowly. “I guess we could do it like that, if you want.”

“This does not mean you are forgiven,” Felipe says.

“Of course.”

“And it does not mean my son can be friends with your brat.”

“Oi,” Rob said, the sympathetic tone disappearing in an instant.

“Go to your boss and see what they will offer,” Felipe says. “Then maybe you can phone me instead of waking me up?”

“Felipe, I-.”

Felipe slammed the door shut, Rob removing his foot just in time before it could be squashed against the door frame again. Felipinho was still rubbing his head and Felipe kissed it again.

“Do you want breakfast now?”

A nod.

“Alright, but no more climbing on things, ok? You are not very good at that.”


	13. Threats and stuff

Some days it felt like the more Rob did, the more he had to do, and today turned out to be one of those days. He spoke with Claire, got a rough figure that was far lower than either of them expected to be paying in the end, phoned Felipe but, unsurprisingly, he didn’t answer. Rob left a voice mail then got on with writing another statement to show what they had done in the few days since the outcome of the investigation had been reached, or what they were supposed to have done. What had really happened was a lot of lies and possibly even more coffee, but nobody needed to know about that.

“Rob? Rob!”

Rob jumped and looked up to find Valtteri watching him, something like concern on his face.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.”

“You were sleeping.”

“I wasn’t,” Rob lied. “I was just-.”

“Resting your eyes?” Valtteri suggested.

“Blinking slowly,” Rob said. “What’s the matter anyway? Or have you just come here to criticise my blinking technique.”

“Claire wants to see you,” Valtteri said. “Says you have another problem.”

“ _I_ have another problem?”

“Her exact words,” Valtteri said.

Rob groaned and dragged himself up from his desk. A few times a month, Rob would begin wondering if it was worth looking to see if anywhere else would hire him. Somewhere quiet. Somewhere hassle free. Somewhere where the only thing he would get lynched for was leaving the toilet seat up in the office’s unisex toilets.

“Rob,” Claire said, putting on a smile and waving him into a seat in her office. He knew he should have worked at home today, but he got the feeling that wouldn’t have stopped her anyway.

“Valtteri said…” Rob said, jerking his thumb in the direction of the door.

“Yes, you’ve got a problem,” Claire said. “Sit.”

Rob sat. “If this is about Felipe, I’ve left a message. There isn’t much more I can do.”

“No, there’s nothing more I expect you to do just now with that,” Claire said. “It’s this.”

She turned the computer monitor around to show Rob the screen. All the tiredness disappeared instantly. He was looking at a very blurry image of what was definitely his old house, the garden Lucy and her new boyfriend tended to, and his children playing in it.

He looked between the screen and Claire, waiting for an explanation.

“They don’t like the story we’ve told,” she said, eventually.

“ _Who_ Claire?” Rob asked, as if that was really a question.

“Our secret customers in the East, I assume,” Claire said. “They didn’t really identify themselves. Just this. And the message.”

“They know where my kids are.”

“Yes.”

“And what are we going to do about it?” Rob asked, taking a deep breath. The last thing he needed to do was go into hysterics now.

“Well, there isn’t very much we _can_ do,” Claire said.

“What?”

“There is nothing we can do,” Claire said. “I’ve been speaking to my father and admitting what we did is not an option.”

“No,” Rob said. “No, what isn’t an option is letting my kids get hurt. That’s what isn’t an option.”

“We go back on this, we get a lot of people in a lot of trouble,” Claire said. “There’s us, there’s you, there’s the shipping company, there’s the army, there’s the government. There’s everyone who’s gone along with this lie and if we take it back, they are all going to look extremely guilty and you want them all coming down on his for a pathetic little blackmail?”

“If it means Frankie and Felix are safe then yes,” Rob said.

“We cannot do that,” Claire said again. “We have someone watching the house.”

“I can see that.”

“We have someone watching the house looking out for whoever took this,” Claire said. “We’ll find them. We’ll deal with them calmly.”

“Wait, how long have you known about this?” Rob asked.

“Hmmm?”

“Claire. How. Long. Have. You. Known. About. This?”

Claire was efficient, but there was no way she would be able to have someone at the house and have spoken to her father if it had only happened today.

“The sales office received the email lunchtime yesterday,” Claire admitted.

“Yesterday?” Rob asked. “Someone has been watching my kids since yesterday.”

“I can understand why you are upset, Rob, but try to calm down,” Claire said. “We are doing everything we can to make sure they’re safe.”

“Except doing the one thing you know will keep them safe,” Rob snapped.

“I’ve explained why we cannot do that,” Claire said. “Anyway, I just thought you should be aware of the situation and what we’re doing about it.”

“Nothing,” Rob said. “You are doing nothing.”

Claire sighed and took a moment to calm herself. Rob could see she was about to snap at him herself but he didn’t care. He needed Frankie and Felix safe and nothing else actually mattered right now.

“We are going to do everything we can to make sure everyone is safe,” she said. “Your children are our highest priority, of course, but we have to look after those who look after us too. You can take the rest of the day off, if you want.”

“I quit,” Rob said.

“What?”

“I quit,” Rob said again, standing. “No, all this job does is get me into trouble and I’m not having it anymore. You find out who is threatening my kids and you sort it out. I don’t care about the money. I just want them safe. I quit.”

 

Dan and Sebastian were having a lazy day, or they were supposed to be. But this had turned into sitting under their duvet’s on the sofa with their work out and a Disney film on. It was a compromise.

“Have you spoken to his father yet?” Sebastian asked, watching Dan flick through a file, making notes in the relevant boxes.

“What?” Dan asked, not really paying attention. He was trying to find a way to describe the bullying as Felipinho had without sounding like a five year old.

“I know you know what I am talking about,” Sebastian said, smacking his flatmate with a pillow and forcing Dan to look away from his work. “Have you spoken to his father yet?”

“Yesterday,” Dan said.

“And?”

“We got things sorted,” Dan said. It wasn’t exactly true. He hadn’t really been able to go through everything he had wanted to. There were a lot of things he’d wanted to go onto. Nothing that was desperately important – he was five, and if there was anything at this level that would be considered desperately important, Dan hadn’t encountered it yet – but important enough to require a second meeting and he didn’t think Felipinho’s father was going to be very impressed with that.

They’d started to sort out the bullying, which Dan thought was the most important thing. He’d had a word with the class teacher, who was already aware of the situation but not of the extent, and they had come up with a plan to sort it out. Dan secretly hoped sorting that out would sort out everything else too. He didn’t know how naïve that was, but it was worth hoping for.

“See, I told you it would be alright,” Sebastian said.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Dan said, not really paying attention. He wanted to get this done now so he had the entire Sunday to do classwork. Apparently things got easier once you started a placement, but Dan was yet to see the effect of that.

“It must be easier for you,” Sebastian said, thoughtfully, looking down at his own lesson plans for the year six class he took once a week.

“Why’s that?”

“They don’t ask questions when they’re five,” Sebastian said grimly. “One girl yesterday burst into tears because she thought she was going to be evacuated like in World War Two.”

“I never even thought about that,” Dan said, looking up again from the files he was supposed to be going through. There was little use training to become a teacher if all the children were going to be evacuated off somewhere.

“It isn’t going to happen,” Sebastian said, smirking at the fear on Dan’s face. Sometimes he was sure Dan had the same mental age as some of the students in his class. “The war is in the East. Nowhere near us. The only reason kids would be moving anywhere would be if they brought in conscription and there was no parent to look after them. Don’t worry.”

Dan nodded, but Sebastian could tell he was unconvinced. Sighing over dramatically, Sebastian put his lesson plans onto the coffee table, pulling the duvet off of him and stood.

“Do you really think anybody would bring a war here?” he asked. “The only reason governments go to war is to make money and win elections. And bringing the war here will do neither of those two things.”

“Where the hell did that come from?” Dan asked.

“Dad used to give that speech every time the news came on,” Sebastian said. “That was just the highlights. There was another three hours to it. But, anyway, you don’t have to worry about a thing.” He flopped back onto the sofa beside Dan, sending Dan’s work flying, and put an arm over his friend’s shoulders. “This is nearly finished. Brave or Frozen?”


	14. Take-sy Back-seis

“Lucy! Lucy open the door! This is important!”

Yes, Rob had been reduced to shouting in the street, again, but he didn’t really care. The neighbours could think what they liked about him. It really didn’t matter. He just wanted to see them. He wanted to make sure they were alright. All of them.

“Lucy!”

The door was practically ripped off its hinges by a very angry looking man. John.

“Fuck off.”

“Where’s Lucy? I need to speak to her,” Rob said. The last person who needed to know about this was John. Of course, Lucy would go running off, crying, to her new “boyfriend” as soon as Rob told her what was going on, but he needed Lucy to find out about all this from him, not some twisted _stranger_ who told children there was no such thing as heaven.

“Like I would tell you.”

“This is important,” Rob said, like John hadn’t already heard that.

“Then tell me and I can tell her for you.”

“Just tell me where she is,” Rob said, trying to stay calm because Lucy would only use this against him. She sat in her pretty little office with her meaningless work and she didn’t really understand the concept of importance. She wouldn’t understand that this was a life or death situation and, even if she did, she would probably still use it against him. Or John would make her anyway.

“She left,” John said.

“She left you?” Rob asked, and he almost can’t believe it.

“No, she left _here_ ,” John said. “Said she had to get away from you.”

“No,” Rob said, shaking his head. “No, she can’t do that. They’re my children.”

“Maybe if you weren’t so overcrowding…”

“Overcrowding?” Rob cried. “All I have done since you wormed your way into my home is pick up the pieces you drop. I’m there whenever she needs me to run errands because you two don’t have half a brain cell between you. I’m there when you two decide you need to spend time together “alone”. I have done nothing but support my kids and if you want to call that overcrowding, fine. Just because you couldn’t give two shits about them.”

“Fuck off.”

“Tell me where Lucy is,” Rob said.

“If she wanted you to know, she would tell you herself,” John said, slamming the door shut. Rob didn’t have enough time to stick his foot in it and, even if he did, he didn’t think it would survive another meeting with a door today. He carried on the knocking for another few minutes, even though he knew it was useless.

At least, he thought, as he turned to go back to his car, if Lucy and the kids weren’t here then they weren’t in trouble. They would be somewhere safe and they could figure this all out without having to worry about them.

 _Claire_ could figure this all out. _Williams_ could figure this all out. This had nothing to do with him now that his children were safe.

 

The phone was ringing again, but Felipe didn’t recognise the number and he was in no mood for another sales person, so he left it on the side in the kitchen, replacing it with the bowl of snacks he was bringing in for Felipinho.

“Can we go to the park?” he asked, looking up from his colouring.

“It is too cold for the park,” Felipe said.

“I hate the winter,” Felipinho muttered, grumpily, returning to his drawing.

“I know, it is not very fun,” Felipe said. “Not long until it gets warmer though, and then we can go to the park.”

Felipinho huffed, but didn’t say anything. He still hadn’t figured out how to make it spring sooner. It was something he’d been talking to Frankie about lots and, when they figured it out, they would make it spring sooner so they could go to the park and get ice cream again.

“Mummy said it was never winter in the East,” Felipinho remembered suddenly. Even when it had been snowing where they lived, it had been warm and sunshining in the East.

“Yeah,” Felipe said. “It is very different there.”

“I wish it was never winter here,” Felipinho said.

“If it was never winter, it would never snow,” Felipe pointed out.

“I like ice cream more than snow,” Felipinho said. “Can we go to the East? And then it will be sunny and we can have picnics and ice cream and go to the park all the time.”

“We can’t go to the East,” Felipe said, gently.

“Why not?”

“Because it is not a nice place there,” Felipe said.

“Why not?”

“There are lots of nasty people there,” Felipe said. He didn’t want to have to explain this to him, not when he didn’t even understand it himself. What was happening in the East wasn’t really going to affect them – no more than it already had – and he didn’t want Felipinho being scared over nothing.

“Oh,” Felipinho said, quietly. “Like Frankie’s papa?”

“Worse than Frankie’s papa,” Felipe admitted. “That’s why we have to stay here.”

“Alright,” Felipinho said, but he didn’t sound too convinced. He turned back to the colouring, making sure the sun in his picture was as bright as possible. The East couldn’t be _that_ bad, could it? Nowhere that was sunny all the time could be _that_ bad.

 

“Where’s Claire?” Rob asked, bursting into the office. He had a sort of plan, but it consisted of little more than find his kids and stop Lucy.

“I thought you quit,” Valtteri said.

“I’m back, ta da,” Rob said. He was sure Claire wouldn’t have taken his quitting seriously. She probably would have expected the outburst. She seemed to expect pretty much everything else he did. “Where is Claire?”

“She went out to see Massa, you just missed her,” Pat called from across the room.

“She should have left that to me,” Rob said. Now he was going to have to deal with an even more pissed off hobbit on top of everything else. There was a chance that Felipe would speak to Claire and they would be able to get the whole compensation thing sorted out without him, but he wasn’t sure how big a chance that was.

“You did quit,” Valtteri pointed out.

“Right,” Rob said. He probably had a point.

There was no use dwelling on that now, though. He needed to find his kids. And he had a sort of plan to make that happen.

“Where are you going?” Valtteri asked, hurrying after Rob as he marched down the corridor to Claire’s office.

“Do you know about the blackmail?” Rob asked, not stopping or slowing for his assistant to catch up with him.

“Blackmail? No.”

“Of course not,” Rob said. “It doesn’t matter. Claire might know about something which is quite important for me to know about.”

“What?” Valtteri asked, trying to stop Rob before he could reach the office.

“It does not concern you, Valtteri,” Rob said. “Don’t you have something you should be getting back to?”

“Yeah, I need your help with some things though,” Valtteri said, still trying to get Rob to stop, but his boss marched on oblivious.

“I’m sure if you ask Pat, he’ll be able to help,” he said, shrugging off his assistant when he tried to grab hold of his arm.

Rob reached the door to Claire’s office before Valtteri could stop him. Surprisingly, he found it unlocked.

“I thought she was out?” Rob asked, turning the door handle and opening the door.

Claire looked up from the computer she was working on, smiling when she saw who it was. “We knew you would be back, Rob, but we didn’t think it would be so soon.”

Rob looked between Claire and Valtteri, waiting for an answer. Valtteri opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, trying to figure out an answer to the unasked question.

“You’ve work to do, Valtteri?” Claire asked.

Valtteri nodded, quickly, hurrying away and letting Claire explain whatever’s going on to Rob. Rob waited in the doorway for an answer, but Claire didn’t want to play that game.

“Have you calmed down?”

“What is going on?” Rob asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Pat said you went to see Massa,” Rob said, still not moving from the doorway.

“I asked them not to let anyone disturb me,” Claire said. “I thought they would have worked out that you did not really qualify as anyone, but I guess not. They’re only doing their job, I suppose.”

“What are you doing that’s so important then?” Rob asked. He didn’t really believe that, but he wasn’t going to get the truth from Claire just by asking.

“Finding out who is watching your children,” Claire said. “And trying to find someone to cover your work. And trying to get in touch with Massa. Lots of things.” She smiled at him, but it wasn’t supposed to be warm or friendly. “Is there are reason you’re here Rob?”

“I need to find Frankie and Felix,” Rob said.

“ _Find_ them?” Claire asked. “Why would you need to…?”

“Lucy’s taken them somewhere,” Rob said.

“I know,” Claire said.

“What?”

“I know Lucy’s taken them somewhere,” Claire said. “Do you think I’m completely careless? I told her what was going on just before I told you and suggested she leave.”

“And you didn’t think to tell me that?” Rob cried.

“I thought she might,” Claire said. “I am sorry I never considered that your personal life was so screwed up, Rob. I’ll bare that in mind in future, shall I?”

“Do you know where they are?”

“No, Rob, I do not have a tracking device on your ex-wife, I’m sorry,” Claire said. “Is there anything else?”

Rob just glared at her. He knew she was under a lot of pressure, but there was no need to be as insensitive as this.

“No,” he said, shortly.

“Right then,” Claire said. “Do you still quit or are you going to get some work done?”

“I’ll work from home,” Rob said. “You can email me if you need anything.”


	15. Proper Grown Up Plans

When Monday came around, Rob was waiting on the playground before the school day began. Lucy would have to show up. She wouldn’t let the boys miss school for anything, and then he would be there and they could talk. Properly talk as well, not a screaming match, because Lucy would not want a scene at the school.

Felipe spotted him immediately, holding onto Felipinho’s hand tighter. He couldn’t spot Frankie anywhere though.

“Remember what I said about Frankie?” Felipe asked, still watching Rob, but Rob hadn’t noticed him yet and it didn’t look like he’d come here for Felipe.

“Yes,” Felipinho said, annoyed. Of course he’d remembered.

“Good,” Felipe said, keeping one eye on Rob as he walked across the playground, waiting beside the classroom door.

As it got closer and closer to nine o’clock, Rob got more and more worried. He knew Lucy liked to cut it close, always rushing about to get everything done at the last minute, but the fact she still wasn’t here was making him a little nervous.

She couldn’t have gone for good. She would have taken her ‘boyfriend’ with her if she was going to go for good. No, Rob was pretty sure she had only gone in panic. Claire must have made her panic – which was completely understandable considering what was going on – and she’d run off. But she _had_ to be back.

At nine o’clock, the classroom door was opened and a herd of children stormed into the classroom.

“Be good, ok?” Felipe said. “And remember what Mr Ricciardo said about name calling.”

“I will,” Felipinho promised, standing on his toes to let his father kiss him goodbye before joining the crowd.

Even when all the children had disappeared inside the school, Rob was waiting outside. She hadn’t come. She really was gone.

He gulped, looking around the emptying playground again for some kind of answer. She couldn’t be gone. She would have taken John if she was going to go for good and that hadn’t happened. He never thought he would have been happy that John was still around, but here he was.

“Felipe,” he called, catching the other parent just as he was leaving. There was a chance, wasn’t there? She might have told him. Rob couldn’t really see why she would, but he was getting desperate.

“Have already told your boss what I think of your offer,” Felipe said. “You… she said you quit?”

“Yeah,” Rob said. It probably wasn’t worth mentioning that he’d taken that back after only an hour or so. He wasn’t going to find out the truth any time soon and if it meant Frankie was free to be friends with whoever he wanted to then it was doing more good than harm – as soon as he found out where Frankie was. “I don’t suppose you’ve spoken to Lucy recently.”

“She phoned me on Friday,” Felipe said. “Apologising for you.”

“She said she would,” Rob said, quietly. It would have annoyed him, if he had nothing else to be concerned about. She felt the need to apologise for him when he was a perfectly functioning adult and she made it perfectly clear she had no responsibility for him what so ever, no matter how hard he tried to change that. Going around and apologising to people for him made him look like a child, and she knew it. “But nothing since then?”

“No. Why?” Felipe asked.

Rob wasn’t sure if he should say anything. It definitely wasn’t going to make Williams look very good if he told the entire truth, not to mention the fact he would have to explain that they’d lied about their part in the attack. But he also needed to get Frankie and Felix back, and that was much more important. He’d know when to stop when he came to it, he was sure.

“Lucy’s taken them somewhere,” Rob said. “And I don’t know where.”

“She has run off with them?” Felipe asked, surprised. “It is probably for the best.”

“Look, I know you don’t like my job, and I wasn’t particularly fond of it either, but I am a good father,” Rob said. “I would do anything to make sure those kids are safe and looked after, and I am not going to let a judgmental little twat like you tell me otherwise. So if you know where they are, tell me. And either way, keep your stupid little comments to yourself.”

Felipe stared at him, shocked into silence for a couple of moments.

“Is no wonder you lost your job if you speak to people like that.”

“Firstly, I didn’t lose my job, I quit,” Rob said, forgetting for the moment that he still had his job. “And secondly, I talk to people how they deserve to be treated. You’re being a twat. A dead wife isn’t a get out of jail free card. You don’t get to do what you want because of it. I’m sorry. I cannot tell you enough how sorry I am for any part I played in your wife’s death, or in anybody else’s death. I don’t have the words for that. But you don’t just get to do what you want because of it. My kids have been taken away from me, something that _isn’t_ actually my fault. I thought you might be able to help me, but you clearly can’t. And that’s all you had to say. There’s no need to be a dick about it.”

And that was really going to annoy Claire when she found out, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t going to be treated like he was some monster because of something he didn’t even do.

Rob marched on, leaving Felipe staring after him.

 

Frankie was already inside when Felipinho came into the classroom, sitting quietly on the carpet. Felipinho quickly hung his coat up so he could sit down beside his secret best friend.

“Why are you already here?” he asked.

“Mummy brought me through ‘ception,” Frankie said. “She said Daddy isn’t allowed to see me anymore.”

“Why not?” Felipinho asked.

“Don’t know,” Frankie said. “She said we might have to move away.”

“What?”

“She said we might have to move somewhere far away,” Frankie said. “So they can’t get us.”

“Who’s they?”

“Don’t know.”

“You two are always chatting,” the teacher said, sitting down in her chair and opening the register. “Shush.”

“Yes miss.”

Frankie was going to have to go away and it was probably his fault, Felipinho thought. If they were still best friends, then his mummy wouldn’t make him go away. But if Frankie’s mummy found out they were still best friends, then his papa would, then _Felipinho’s_ papa would, and they couldn’t let that happen. Not ever.

There had to be something they could do though…

“I don’t want you to go away,” Felipinho said, quietly once they were sat at the table (aprons on, ready to do painting).

“I don’t want to go away,” Frankie said. “But mummy says…”

Felipinho nodded. They didn’t really have much of a choice.

“Maybe I could go with you?” Felipinho suggested, but he didn’t have much hope.

“I don’t think your daddy would let you,” Frankie said, which was exactly what Felipinho was thinking.

“I’ll run away,” Felipinho said. “Then he won’t know and he won’t be able to stop me.”

“I don’t think my mummy will let you,” Frankie said.

Felipinho frowned pushing up his sleeves so he didn’t get paint on them. It seemed like Frankie didn’t even want him to go with them.

“Maybe you should run away too,” Felipinho suggested. “We can both go together.”

Frankie stared at him as if he was mad, accidentally resting his elbow on the plate of red paint. “We can’t run away. Where would we go?”

Felipinho shrugged, moving Frankie’s arm out of the paint. “Somewhere we can be friends and the grown ups won’t be silly. We could go to the East. It’s always sunny there and we can have ice cream whenever we want.”

“I don’t know if that’s a very good idea,” Frankie said, quietly, sticking his paint brush into the paint and bringing it across the paper.

“You want to be friends with me, don’t you?” Felipinho asked. This seemed like a perfectly good idea to him and he didn’t know why he hadn’t thought of it before.

“Of course I do.”

“We could be best friends forever if we went somewhere the grown ups aren’t,” Felipinho pointed out.

“I guess…” Frankie said, slowly. “But, wouldn’t we get in trouble?”

“Not if they didn’t find us,” Felipinho said. “Please, Frankie. I don’t want you to go away.”

“Alright,” Frankie said. “Are you sure this is going to work?”

“Yep!” Felipinho said, proudly. It was probably the best idea he had ever came up with. “But we have to come up with a proper grown up plan, alright?”


	16. A Break

“She can’t just take them, can she?” Rob asked the family lawyer, hopefully. When he’d told Claire about the divorce, she’d offered to find him a solicitor herself (“there’s nothing wrong with looking after our staff”). Thankfully, Rob had declined, opting to trust an old college friend rather than whatever slime ball Williams found.

“Well,” Mark said, and even the _way_ he said it told Rob it wasn’t going to be good news. “She can.”

“She can’t,” Rob said, again. “They’re my children. I have rights over them.”

“Actually, you don’t,” Mark said, flicking through the brief case he had brought with him to find the piece of paper he needed. “What did I tell you about letting Lucy have everything she wanted?”

He handed Rob the piece of paper work he’d singled out, giving him an apologetic smile at the same time. Mark had warned him. Claire had warned him. _Everyone_ had warned him, but he’d still had the tiniest scrap of hope at the time that, if Lucy saw how nice he was being, how much he was trying to protect the kids from all this, maybe she would remember how she’d felt before John. It hadn’t worked of course, but Rob had already given her everything she wanted, including the children.

He shook his head, refusing to believe what was written in front of him. “She _can’t_ do this, Mark,” Rob whispered. “They’re my children.”

“I know,” Mark said, resisting the urge to say “I told you so”. “Divorce is always difficult when one party is still holding on.”

“The divorce was easy,” Rob said, the words in front of him beginning to blur, and he wished it was that easy in real life. “She can’t have done this. Why didn’t you stop me?”

“I did try, mate,” Mark said, but he knew Rob already knew that and he wasn’t helping matters in the slightest.

“I can’t believe she did this,” Rob whispered. He was trying to come up with a plan because there had to be some way out of this.

“I’m sorry,” Mark said. “If you can find her, we can go back to the courts, try to get it changed. But we can’t actually stop her leaving the country or anything. I really am sorry, mate.”

Rob shook his head, flinching away when Mark tried to pat him on the back. He still hadn’t taken his eyes off of the agreement he’d signed, as if staring at it was going to change what was written.

“There has to be something we can do,” he whispered, refusing to believe it was over.

“I’ll look over it,” Mark promised, plucking the paper from Rob’s hands. “Maybe there’s something I missed before. I’ll check to make sure that isn’t the case. And I’ll speak to Lucy’s solicitors. Do you know if she’s still using the same company?”

“I think so,” Rob said, wiping his eyes.

“Hey,” Mark said, gently, placing a hand on Rob’s shoulder. “We’ll get this all sorted out, alright. Just give me a little time.”

 

_“Papa says you’re not coming back on zero anymore,” Felipinho said, sitting up on his knees so the camera could see him. He leaned against the rickety computer desk, grinning at his mother through the screen._

_“No,” Raffaela said. “No, I have a little bit more work to do here. But I’ll be back very soon, don’t worry.”_

_“We ran out of chocolates from Christmas today,” Felipinho declared, proudly. It was almost Easter and Felipe didn’t know how he’d managed to make them last this long, but he had._

_Felipe watched from the kitchen, wanting Felipinho to have a little time alone with Raffaela. They hadn’t spoken in months, Felipe always putting off telling him what was really going on._

_Felipinho went through his own little agenda of important things he’d been waiting to tell his mother about, from his latest family portrait to the fact that some of the bigger kids did recorder lessons and he couldn’t wait to be bigger so then he could learn too._

_The allotted hour was gone in what felt like an instant and Felipe hadn’t moved from his spot in the doorway. They couldn’t go on like this anymore. She needed to come back and she needed to come back soon._

_Felipinho yawned midway through his speech on how fantastic one of his new teachers was, making both Felipe and Raffaela yawn too._

_“Sounds like someone’s ready for bed,” Raffaela laughed once she’d finished yawning. “Don’t you have school tomorrow?”_

_He did, and Felipe had been reluctant to let this happen on a school night anyway, but it was the only night he could get off work. As much as he was grateful for everything Raffaela’s parents did to help him with Felipinho, some things needed to be done without them, and this was one of them._

_“I’m not tired,” Felipinho said before yawning again._

_“It sounds like it,” Raffaela laughed. “Where is Papa, hey? Shouldn’t he be taking you to bed about now?”_

_Felipinho looked over to his father, rubbing his eyes and trying to prove that he wasn’t really that tired, but it wasn’t working. Felipe smiled and came over, lifting Felipinho up so he could sit down in front of the computer, Felipinho curling himself up on his lap._

_“Don’t let him suck his thumb,” Raffaela said._

_“I’m not,” Felipe said, pulling Felipinho’s hands out of his mouth again. They would be back in there before he went to bed, though. There was no stopping that. Felipe pressed a kiss to the top of Felipinho’s head, smiling at the computer screen. “Hello.”_

_“If talking was an Olympic sport…”_

_“I know,” Felipe said, shifting when Felipinho did. The child rested his cheek on his father’s chest so he could still see the computer. “Not tired at all, is he?”_

_“Nope,” Felipinho said, sleepily, making both adults laugh. “When are you coming back, Mummy? Before Easter?”_

_“Probably not before Easter, no,” Raffaela said, sadly._

_“You’re going to be gone for ages,” Felipinho complained._

_“I know. I’m sorry,” Raffaela said, gently. “But Easter will be here soon, won’t it? And you’ll have so much chocolate that time will fly by and it will seem like I am back very, very soon.”_

_“Ok. I’ll save you some chocolate though,” Felipinho promised, reaching one hand up to play with his father’s hair to put himself to sleep._

_“Such a good boy,” Raffaela said. “Watch him, or he’ll fall asleep there. You know what mum said.”_

_“Yes, I know what your mum said,” Felipe said, trying not to sound annoyed because this was supposed to be a happy moment. He shifted Felipinho over so the child couldn’t go to sleep._

_“Take him to bed,” Raffaela said. “I’ll still be here when you get back.”_

“I know you said you don’t want to come in but-.”

“Out,” Rob said.

He was getting pretty sick of this, walking in to find Claire waiting for him in his own home. There had to be a law against this. Maybe it counted as harassment as something.

Claire didn’t move, watching Rob as he removed his coat and hung it up.

“It isn’t anything too bad,” she said, once Rob had finished and was pushing his way past her. “Not anything like Channel Six.”

“I am not doing anything,” Rob said, slowly. Maybe she would be able to understand better if he spoke slowly. “You need things writing, fine. You need me to organise something, fine. But I am not going out there and getting egged and attacked again. No way.”

“It _is_ your job,” Claire pointed out, as he needed reminding.

“Yes, and my job is making it impossible for me to ever see my kids again,” Rob said. It wasn’t entirely Williams’ fault for that. He should have been more careful in the divorce and he knew it. But if he could find someone else to blame for five seconds maybe it would make things a little better. “I am not doing any TV shit, Claire. We have an entire PR department-.”

“Most of which don’t have a clue what the fuck is going on,” Claire said, following Rob into the kitchen where he slammed down his car keys and flicked the switch on the kettle. “This was _your_ idea.”

“Your father sold weapons to fucking terrorists then, when the terrorists committed an act of terrorism with said weapons, you asked me to solve the problem,” Rob said. “I think this was already fucked up before it came to me, so don’t give me all this ‘it was your idea’ shit, because that isn’t true.”

“If it wasn’t us it would have been someone else,” Claire said, giving Rob a strange sense of déjà vu. He was sure he had heard that before.

“If it wasn’t us we wouldn’t be in this mess and my kids would be safe,” Rob said. “I. Am not. Going on. TV. I have told you what I’m willing to do. I’m not doing anything else.”

Usually Claire was pretty understanding. She knew not to push Rob past his limits but, for some reason, she was acting completely different. Something was clearly wrong, but he couldn’t care less what was happening to the great Williams empire.

“If you don’t, you’re fired,” Claire warned.

“Fire me,” Rob said. Right now he wasn’t sure if he was calling Claire’s bluff or actually willing her to do it. He leaned against the kitchen counter, watching Claire try to figure out his thinking.

The kettle boiled and Rob left it, not wanting to be the first to break eye contact.

“Fine,” Claire snapped, holding up her hands. “You’re fired.”

“Good,” Rob said. “Good luck finding a replacement.”

He doubted there would be anybody in the country willing to go along with the stupid things the company had gotten themselves into now.

Claire glared at him. “We’ll have a replacement within a week.”

“Good luck,” Rob said again, watching Claire march back out of the house. He was almost certain she would be back. They wouldn’t find anyone and then they would be trying to get him back, probably on an increased salary as well…

A break would be nice. A break right now was just what he needed.


	17. The Bus To The East

Felipinho was sat peering out the window whilst his father finished the washing up. He’d told Frankie to be here after dinner. He had a bag ready with some clothes and his toys and he’d told Frankie to do the same. They wouldn’t need much else. Not really.

Maybe Frankie had dinner at a different time than he did. That might be a problem.

He would have to come up with a way to tell Frankie to hurry up because otherwise they were going to have to go to the office soon and Frankie wouldn’t know where to go then. He couldn’t tell Frankie what he was wanted to just by thinking even when they were _right next to each other_ so that wasn’t going to work. He was going to need to come up with a better idea than that.

“You better not be behind the curtains again,” Felipe called in from the kitchen.

“I’m not!” Felipinho called back, ducking back out from behind the curtains.

“Good boy,” Felipe called, scrubbing at the oven dish he _knew_ he should have left to soak as soon as he took the food out of it but, well, hindsight was a wonderful thing wasn’t it?

Frankie!

Felipinho jumped away from the window as soon as he spotted his friend, rushing into the hall. He’d already checked that he could open the door without papa hearing it. When he did, he found Frankie waiting on his doorstep.

Frankie still looked a little nervous, like he didn’t really want to do this, but he’d said yes when they were at school. It was the best idea, Felipinho had managed to convince him. They didn’t have to go to the East _forever_. Just for a little while, and then maybe the grown ups would stop arguing.

Felipinho just smiled, pulled his Ninja Turtles back pack onto his shoulders and joined Frankie on the doorstep. He put a finger to his lips to make sure Frankie would still be quiet before he silently shut the front door.

“Let’s go.”

 

“Right,” Felipe said, drying his hands once the washing up was finally done. “Felipinho, finish whatever you’re doing, it’s time to go.”

Felipe waited for the usual groan and request for “just five more minutes” (even though he was sure Felipinho had no idea what five more minutes actually meant), but it didn’t come.

“Felipinho? Did you hear me?”

The front room was empty. He’d obviously gotten board of staring out the window. Felipe dumped the tea towel on the back of the chair. If he was playing hide and seek…

“Felipinho!” Felipe called again. “You have until the count of three to come out here. No more games, we need to go.”

There was no movement from anywhere in the house. Felipinho was a good boy, most of the time. Most of the time he would come and do as he was told. But then there would be one day every couple of week when he would think something like this was a good idea.

“One.”

There was still nothing. If he wasn’t out by two then there was no hope he was coming out.

It would be really helpful if it wasn’t one of those days today.

“Two.”

Felipe wandered up the stairs. If he was hiding, he would be in his bedroom, the toys scattered about the floor where he’d tried to hide. He expected to hear giggling when he pushed open the door but there was nothing.

“Felipinho, if I get to three you are going to be in big trouble,” he said, waiting for something to move. “Two and a-.”

The bedroom was unusually tidy. If he was in here, Felipe was sure there would be some kind of mess from where he was trying to hide, but now there was nothing but a piece of paper on the bed.

_I have gon with Frankie to the East so we can be frends. I will be back soon._

Finding Lucy wasn’t going quite as well as Rob had hoped. He’d tried phoning the police, but they had told him the exact same thing as Mark had. She could take the kids wherever she wanted to and there was nothing he could do about it. John was being less than helpful. He had to know where they were but he wasn’t going to tell him. Because he was an idiot. What Lucy saw in him, Rob didn’t know. He’d been sure they’d only gotten together to wind him up, but the joke was getting old now.

He’d tried all the local hotels in case she’d gone there, and the offices she never seemed to leave, but there was no sign of her. Her assistant was almost as unhelpful as John, but did say that Ms Smedley would be in next week to finalise a few things before she left. Next week was a little too long to wait for Rob. He needed the children now.

It was getting late now, and a quick check of all the fast food restaurants in the area proved useless as well. Rob sat in his car after visiting the fifth McDonalds and checked his phone again.

She could not just do this.

This wasn’t the Lucy he knew. Sure, she would panic if someone told her a terrorist organisation was trying to use her children as blackmail, but she wouldn’t take them away from Rob, no matter what had happened. This had to be John whispering in her ear or something.

Maybe being away from the idiot would be good for her. She would realise she was wrong eventually and come back. Maybe she would figure out she was wrong about John as well and they could all get back to normal.

Rob had been staring at his phone for at least five minutes when it started ringing.

It wasn’t Lucy. Or John. Or Claire. The number was unknown and there was still a chance it might be someone who knew where the children were, so he answered it quickly.

“Felipinho is missing.”

“Felipe? What?”

“Has left a note to say he has gone off with Frankie.”

“Calm down,” Rob said, starting the car. Felipe knew where Frankie was. Or Felipinho did, at least. And wherever Frankie was, Felix wouldn’t be far behind. He would have his boys back.

“Do not tell me to calm down,” Felipe snapped. “They have run away and this is all your fault.”

“ _My_ fault,” Rob said, before quickly changing his mind. There was no point getting in an argument over this. “No, never mind. Where are you? I’ll come.”

“At home,” Felipe said. He didn’t know what to do. He’d tried phoning Lucy, but he hadn’t gotten any reply from her and if it was true she had left with the boys he didn’t think he was going to get any reply. Rob had been the next best option.

“Alright, I’m on my way now,” Rob said. “Stay calm. They’re five. They can’t have gone that far. How long has Felipinho been missing.”

“I don’t know, fifteen minutes maybe?” Felipe said. He hadn’t really been watching the clock. It felt like forever, but it hadn’t been that long ago that Felipinho had been promising to not mess up the curtains. “I do not understand why he would do something like this.”

“You did stop him being friends with his best friend,” Rob pointed out and no, that wasn’t going to help the situation, but Felipe was being an idiot.

“Bet Frankie put him up to this,” Felipe said, but Rob could hear how much he doubted that theory.

“Have you phoned the police yet?” Rob asked.

“Not yet.”

“Ok, get off the phone to me and call the police,” Rob said. “I’ll be at yours in about five minutes.”

He’d found Frankie. They couldn’t have gotten far in fifteen minutes. Finally, he could start to get this sorted out.

 

They had been walking for ages and Frankie was starting to get grumpy.

“We just have to get to the bus station,” Felipinho said. “It’s not that far. Then we can get a bus to nearly anywhere. Mummy told me.”

“Is it very far?” Frankie asked. He wasn’t sure he liked this plan anymore.

“Not far now,” Felipinho promised.

‘Not far’ was a little further than Frankie thought, but they eventually made it to the bus station Felipinho was talking about. It was huge and Frankie was sure they were never going to be able to find the bus to the East. It was already dark and there were too many people for either of them to be able see what any of the numbers on the buses said.

“Hold my hand or you’ll get lost,” Felipinho told Frankie.

“You’re littler than me,” Frankie said. “You’ll get lost.”

“Then hold my hand so I don’t,” Felipinho said, taking hold of Frankie’s hand and pulling him through the forest of legs.

He just needed to find the right bus, and then they could wait at the stop for it to come.

“Do you even know which one goes to the East?” Frankie asked, his legs still hurting from having to walk so far.

“No,” Felipinho said. “But I know how to find out. It says on the board next to the number where the bus goes. Mummy told me.”

“But you don’t know how to read,” Frankie pointed out. “We need a grown up, Felipinho.”

“We _can’t_ get a grown up,” Felipinho said. If they got a grown up they were going to be in trouble, because they weren’t allowed to talk to strangers and anybody who wasn’t a stranger would take them home. “I know how to read East. It was on the tellie.”

“Look,” Frankie said, pulling Felipinho to a stop and pointing with the hand that wasn’t holding Felipinho’s. “There’s a question mark. That’s where to go if you don’t know something.”

“I _do_ know, Frankie,” Felipinho complained, rubbing his eyes. He just needed to find the right sign.

“Come on,” Frankie said, dragging his friend towards the help desk.

Felipinho didn’t bother to complain. Maybe going to the help desk was a good idea. It would help them get to where they needed to be quicker, even if Felipinho _could_ get there by himself.

They waited in the line in the quieter part of the bus station. It was quiet enough that Frankie could let go of Felipinho’s hand now but he didn’t want to in case his friend ran off to explore. That’s what mummy said he needed to hold her hand for.

When they got to the front of the queue, the desk was too high for either of them to see over. There was a little bar that ran around the edge of the desk and, if Frankie stood on it on his toes he could just about see over.

“We need to find the bus to go to the East,” he told the lady behind the desk.

The lady looked down at him, a little confused, then leaned over the desk to look down at Felipinho as well.

“Where are your parents?”

“At home,” Frankie said.

“Right,” the lady said, slowly. “And why do you need to go the East.”

Frankie looked down at Felipinho, not entirely sure what to say now.

“So we can be friends,” Felipinho said, standing on his toes in the hope that the lady might see him better.

“Right,” the lady said again. She pushed herself away from the desk and stood up, which caused the grown ups in the queue behind Felipinho to groan. “Come with me boys.”


	18. Found

The police hadn’t arrived by the time Rob got to the house and Felipe looked like he was about to explode with worry when he opened the door, letting Rob inside without thinking twice.

“Am such an idiot,” Felipe muttered as he led Rob through the house into the living room. Rob knew he shouldn’t have been surprised at how tidy it was but, judging by the mess that Felipe was, he’d just assumed the house would be just as untidy.

“You should have let them just be friends,” Rob said. He knew that wasn’t going to help but he wasn’t going to be blamed for this as well as everything else that was going wrong in Felipe’s life.

“You think this is my fault?” Felipe asked, disgusted.

“It _is_ your fault,” Rob said. “Look, you wait here for the police. I’ll go to the train station or something.”

“ _You_ wait here for the police,” Felipe said.

“Oh, yes,” Rob said. “I’ll wait in _your_ house for the police that _you_ phoned.”

The argument was taken out of their hands by a knock at the door.

“This will be them,” Felipe said as he went to answer the door, returning with two police officers.

“We think we might have found them.”

 

The lady still wasn’t back. She said she’d gone to find what bus they needed, but that was _ages_ ago. Felipinho was getting sleepy now, but he had to try to keep himself awake for when the lady got back. They could sleep on the bus, maybe, but not yet.

Frankie was already asleep by the time the door opened again, so Felipinho shook him awake, because they were going to have to go now. It wasn’t the lady who came in though. There were police men and then behind them-

“Papa?”

“Daddy!”

Frankie ran into his father’s arms and Rob made a promise to himself to never let the child go again. He was not going to lose him again.

“Where did you think you were going?” Rob asked, trying not to sound angry.

Frankie was already crying though. “Mummy said we were going to have to go away and I didn’t want to go away and then Felipinho said if we went to the East then we could be friends and it’s good there because it’s always sunny.”

Rob looked at Felipe as if this proved his point. Felipe just sighed and went over to pick up Felipinho.

“Come on,” he said quietly when Felipinho didn’t lift his arms to be picked up. “What’s the matter?”

“I want to be Frankie’s friend again,” Felipinho said, sleepily. “And you won’t let me and his mummy’s going to take him away and then I’ll never see him ever again.”

“You see?” Rob asked, and Felipe was going to punch the smug know it all if he didn’t shut up soon.

“I’m sorry,” Felipe murmured, sitting next to Felipinho. “I’m sorry I stopped you being friends and I’m sorry Frankie has to move away, but sometimes these things happen, and we can’t do anything to stop it.”

“Yeah we can,” Felipinho said, tears choking his voice. He looked up at Rob. “You’re his papa. You have to be able to stop him going away.”

“I’m going to try,” Rob promised, holding Frankie tighter. “I’m going to do everything I can.”

“Really?” Felipinho asked, wiping his eyes.

“Really,” Rob said, crouching down in front of Felipinho again. “But this is a thing for grown ups, alright? This is something me and Frankie’s mummy have to sort out. And you have to leave it to us. You can’t go running away, Felipinho.”

“Promise Frankie won’t have to go away?” Felipinho asked.

“I promise,” Rob said, gently, handing Felipinho a tissue to wipe his eyes.

 

“You’re late,” Fernando said when Felipe finally made it into the office, a sleeping child on his hip.

“I know, I’m sorry,” Felipe said, dumping Felipinho in his chair and wrapping the blankets around him. “We had a bit of a problem but it’s solved now.”

“And you could not phone to tell me you were going to be late?” Fernando asked.

“I’m _sorry_ ,” Felipe said again.

Fernando just rolled his eyes, answering the phone when it started to ring.

Things would be better at the end of the week when he started the day shift, Felipe reasoned. Felipinho would be at school and he would have nothing to worry about when he got in the car.

“Just a second, please,” Fernando said, before pulling off his head set. “Wait here. I need to talk to you.”

“What about?” Felipe asked.

“Wait,” Fernando instructed, returning quickly to the call.

Felipe sat on the arm of the chair, trying to figure out what Fernando would need to talk about that would be this important. It couldn’t be about being late. He’d been late before and Fernando had just rolled his eyes and let him get on with things. If this was because he was late, it seemed like a pretty stupid thing to keep him out of the car any longer than necessary.

“He should be with you in ten minutes,” Fernando said. “Thank you. Yep, thank you. Good bye.” He sighed and pulled off the headset again, flicking the switch to disconnect the call. “Felipe?”

“Hmmm?”

“Have you seen the news?” Fernando asked.

Felipe shook his head. “Know I do not watch the news, Fernando. What is it?”

“We are actually at war,” Fernando said.

“Know this,” Felipe said. “Is not _news_.”

“No, but… they were saying they did not think it would be serious,” Fernando said. “We would send over some people and get things sorted. They were saying they thought it would only take a couple of months.”

“Hmmm, they said that when Raffaela went over there, remember?” Felipe said. “So it is serious? So what? Is nothing to do with us.”

“But it might be,” Fernando said, quietly.

“What do you mean?”

“They are saying how they will need more troops,” Fernando said. “Said if there are not enough volunteers they might start conscription.”

“Conscription?”

“Signing people on automatically,” Fernando said.

“Yes, I know what conscription is,” Felipe said. “But they cannot do this. They cannot _force_ people to fight.”

“They can, if they think they need to,” Fernando said. “Just thought you should know what is going on. Did not think you would be watching the news.”

“They can’t,” Felipe said again. And they certainly couldn’t just sign _him_ on. What about Felipinho?

Fernando shrugged. “Just thought you should know.”

 

Rob knocked on the door again. Frankie said they had never even left the house, Lucy forcing them to stay quiet so Rob didn’t know they were there. What kind of a thing was that? How could anybody say that was the ‘right’ thing to do?

Lucy opened the door.

“Rob, I really don’t have time for- Frankie?”

Frankie shuffled a little closer to his father, hiding behind Rob’s leg. Mummy was crying and that probably wasn’t a good thing. He’d been worried about being told off because they weren’t supposed to be running away but Daddy hadn’t shouted at him. Daddy was nicer than Mummy though…

“Where have you been? I’ve been worried sick.”

“He said you were going to take him away,” Rob said, holding Frankie close to him in case she tried to take him. He wasn’t leaving today without the kids. She was not going to take them away.

“I wouldn’t need to take him away if your job hadn’t threatened them,” Lucy hissed. “Come on, Frankie. Come inside.”

“If this was about my job you would already be gone,” Rob snapped back. “You lied to me, saying you’d moved away. Making me think you and the kids were some place _safe_. This isn’t about the photo, is it? This is about getting at me when all I have done is bend over backwards to make sure your life is easy.”

“Setting fucking terrorists on us? That’s what you call making life easy for me?”

“If you’re going to go on like this there’s no point us even talking, because nothing I say is going to go into your thick head,” Rob snapped. “Where’s Felix?”

“What?”

“Where is Felix? Go and get him?”

“No, why?”

“I am not leaving here without the kids, Lucy,” Rob said. “You cannot just take them away from me. It’s not right.”

“Oh, they would be safe with you, would they?” Lucy asked. “I can do whatever I like. You agreed to that. I’m going to take _my_ children and we’re going to live some place safe and there is nothing you or anybody else can do to stop me. So why don’t you stop pretending to be a dad and let John do what you clearly can’t.”

“No,” Rob said. “No, I’m not leaving without seeing Felix.”

“He’s in bed,” Lucy said, her arms crossed.

“Then get him out of bed.”

“Very responsible, aren’t you?”

“You’re the one taking her children away from everything they know,” Rob pointed out. “That’s why Frankie ran away in the first place. Do you really think he’s going to be happy wherever you take him?”

“How do I know he ran away and you didn’t just take him away?” Lucy asked.

Rob stumbled back a little, thrown by the comment. “Lucy, we were married. You know me. Do you really think I would do something like that?”

“I wouldn’t put it past you.”

“Tell your mum why you ran away,” Rob said, stepping aside to let Frankie show his face. “Go on.”

Frankie gulped, wiping his own tears from his face. He was going to get shouted at and he knew it.

“It was Felipinho’s idea,” he said, quickly. “I didn’t want to go away and he said if we went to the East we could be friends and we wouldn’t have to go away.”

“You see?”

“Frankie come inside,” Lucy said, gently, holding out her hand for Frankie to take.

Frankie looked at it, uncertainly. He had to do what Mummy said, or he was going to get in _really_ big trouble, but he was going to get in really big trouble for running away anyway, and Daddy was already stopping him from following Mummy inside.

“Frankie,” Lucy hissed, taking hold of her son’s arm and pulling him out of Rob’s grip.

“You’re not taking them anywhere, Lucy,” Rob said. “I won’t let you. I’ll sit out here all night if I have to.”

“Fine,” Lucy snapped, slamming the door shut.

Rob rolled his eyes and sat down on the doorstep. He was sure she hadn’t been like this when they had been married. This, _this_ was John’s fault. Rob wasn’t going anywhere. They could do what they liked, but he wasn’t going anywhere.


	19. Good Morning!

Felipe was still thinking about what Fernando said as his shift was finishing. Conscription. Fernando couldn’t really think this would come to that, did he? They wouldn’t _need_ that many people, would they?

Fernando wouldn’t have felt the need to point it out unless he thought it was important, especially with Felipe being late to work. No, he’d felt the need to stop Felipe to mention it, and that definitely said to Felipe that he thought they were going to go along with conscription, and that he needed to know.

He had Felipinho to look after. He couldn’t go off to fight in some stupid war. It wasn’t possible. So, whether they went ahead with conscription or not, it had nothing to do with Felipe, he reasoned.

He pulled away from the last drop off, thankful the night was finally over. It seemed to have lasted forever and Felipe couldn’t wait to get back to the office and then home. He hadn’t properly spoken to Felipinho about what had happened and _that_ needed clearing up too.

Sighing a little at the thought of it, Felipe drove through the maze of silent residential streets on the estate he found himself in as the sun threatened to push over the horizon. This was the kind of place it would be nice to live. Little semidetached houses with gardens of their own, little swing sets outside the house for the children. Felipe would bet that nobody who lived around here would have any kind of problems worse than what to bake for the school bake sale.

Outside one of the houses was what appeared to be someone sleeping. In Highfield, this was anything other than unusual, but Felipe hadn’t been expecting this kind of thing around here. Felipe slowed to go over one of the many speed bumps that littered the streets around here, the lights from the taxi sliding over the person.

Rob?

He should just carry on driving. He knew he should just carry on driving. But Felipe stopped the car. Hadn’t Rob taken him and Felipinho home when he was too tired to drive? And if he really didn’t work for Williams anymore…

It was definitely him, Felipe saw as he opened the door. He couldn’t really believe he was doing this, but Felipe climbed out of the car, the cold morning air biting him.

“Rob?” he asked, quietly.

Rob didn’t stir from where he was slumped against the door, his lips beginning to go blue. Felipe sighed and came a little closer, looking up at the windows of the house but there was nobody looking out, even when the floodlight in the drive way blinked on.

He’d been here before, he was sure, but he couldn’t remember when. Probably something to do with Frankie, he guessed.

“Rob,” Felipe said, gently shaking him. “You cannot sleep here.”

“Muumph.”

Rob screwed his eyes shut, trying to go back to sleep, but Felipe kept shaking him.

“Get off me.”

“You are going to catch the cold,” Felipe said, but he did step back. “Let me take you home.”

“What…” Rob’s brain finally woke up and he squinted up at the person that woke it up.

“I do not know what?” Felipe said, smirking. “But it is not very good that you are out here. Come on.”

He held out a hand for Rob to take. Rob looked at it, sceptically, then past Felipe, trying to figure out what exactly was going on. Why was he- Lucy.

“Did she phone you?” Rob asked.

“What?”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Rob snapped. “So you can piss off.”

Felipe gaped at him, not sure what Rob was really talking about. “Was just trying to help.”

“Well you’re not,” Rob snapped, crossing his arms. “Piss off.”

“Fine,” Felipe snapped, letting his hand drop back to his side. “Freeze to death. I do not care.”

Felipe marched purposefully back to the car that he’d, rather stupidly, left running. If Rob did not want help then he was not going to get any, whether he needed it or not.

 

“You know you should not have run off last night,” Felipe said when he and Felipinho were back in the car, driving home.

Felipinho didn’t say anything. He hadn’t said much the night before either, falling asleep almost as soon as he was in the car and not waking up until the morning.

“Are you listening?”

A nod, nothing more.

“You cannot just run off by yourself,” Felipe said again. “What if there was a bad person about? What if they had come and taken you and Frankie away? Then we would never have been able to see you again and that is not a good thing, is it?”

“Maybe I don’t _want_ to see you again,” Felipinho muttered, darkly.

“What?”

“You’re nasty and don’t let me be friends with Frankie,” Felipinho said. “And Frankie’s mummy is nasty and making him go away. And you both say Frankie’s papa is nasty and he is the only one _not_ being nasty so I think maybe you are the bad people and I don’t want to see you again.”

Felipe stared at him a moment, only disrupted from trying to figure out what was wrong with his son by an angry motorist hitting his horn. He gulped, turning his focus back onto the road.

“I am not a bad person.”

“I think you are,” Felipinho said.

“Felipinho…”

“Nope,” Felipinho said. “Bad guys never say they are the bad guys.”

“I’m _not_ ,” Felipe said, trying not to snap. “Frankie’s mummy and I only do things to look after you and Frankie.”

“That’s not what I think,” Felipinho said.

“Well, I am right,” Felipe said. “I am a grown up, remember. And, no matter what you think, I am in charge, right?”

“I wish mummy was here,” Felipinho said. “Then she could be in charge, not you.”

“Well she is not here,” Felipe snapped, rubbing his eyes. He was too tired for this. He had a feeling he was going to get an earful from Lucy at the school – if the mother bothered to show up. He was saving his fight for that.

“I wish it was you in heaven, not Mummy.”

 

Rob still wasn’t really awake when his phone started ringing. He peered down at the screen.

“What?”

“If you’re not gone from outside the house in five minutes, I’m phoning the police.”

“What?”

“This is harassment.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Rob said. “Phone them if you want but they can’t do anything.”

He’d phoned Mark the night before. The lawyer had just said to go home and they could go over this in the morning. They needed to do things properly, Mark had said.

Rob, clearly, wasn’t listening.

“They can and will,” Lucy warned. “You’ve five minutes, Rob. I’m serious.”

“And so am I,” Rob said. “You’re not an idiot, Lucy. You know me. I’m not leaving them.”

“Five minutes.”

Lucy hung up and Rob was left staring at his phone. He should probably phone Mark now and let him know what was going on, in case there was some chance the lawyer would know what to do (a suggestion that didn’t consist of leaving), but Rob just sat and stared at the phone, watching the minutes tick past.

When a car pulled to a stop outside the house again, Rob looked up. It was too soon for the police to get there, even if they were going to show up (which Rob wasn’t entirely sure they would).

“Come on, mate,” Mark said, hurrying up the garden path. “This ain’t going to help.”

“She phoned you,” Rob spat. “Why does she even have your number?”

“We’re friends,” Mark said. “We talk sometimes. That doesn’t matter. Rob, this isn’t going to help, is it?”

“It’s helping more than abandoning them,” Rob said.

“You’re just going to get yourself in trouble,” Mark said. “Come on. If you don’t leave now, she really is going to get the police and what good are you going to do then?”

Rob sighed. He _knew_ Mark was right but he wasn’t-

“You’re not giving them up,” Mark said, as if reading his mind. “I’ve been sorting things out. They can’t leave the country. Let me take you home. You need a bed.”

Reluctantly, Rob took the hand Mark offered and let the Australian pull him up.

“You’re freezing mate,” Mark said, pulling Rob towards his car.

“I’m fine,” Rob mumbled, rubbing his nose and leaning against Mark.

“You are not,” Mark said, rolling his eyes. Maybe Rob would be able to see what he was doing better once he’d actually slept.

“I am fine,” Rob mumbled, sleepily. He could barely stay awake, having woken and dropped off all night.

“I’m taking you home,” Mark said, dumping his friend in the car and hurrying around to the other side. “Did you really think this was going to work, Rob?” he said, disappointed.

“She couldn’t leave if I was there,” Rob said, trying to get comfortable. His back ached from sitting on the door step all night and he was looking forward, a little, to falling asleep.

“There are proper ways to do this kind of thing, mate,” Mark pointed out, starting the car.

“Yeah, you said,” Rob muttered. He was too tired to go through all this right now. Why couldn’t Mark just tell him he was an idiot and leave it at that?

“But you didn’t listen to me, did you?” Mark asked, annoyed.

“What else was I supposed to do?” Rob asked.

“You phone me,” Mark said. “We sort things out. We go back to the courts. We make sure she can’t _legally_ take them away.”

“Yeah, but it’s too late,” Rob said. “They’ll be gone by this afternoon.”

“They can’t,” Mark said. “I told you, she is not going anyway. She can’t take the kids out of the country until we’ve gone to the courts again.”

“It’s a big country, Mark,” Rob pointed out.

“Not really,” Mark muttered, but he couldn’t tell if his friend was listening. Rob’s eyes were closed and he’d finished shifting about. “Rob, are you ok?”

He’d always known his friend to be calm. That was why he was so good at what he did. Even when Williams had done something that was making everyone go crazy (like this), Rob managed to stay calm. But now…

“What’s happened?”

Rob screwed his eyes a little tighter, wishing he was properly asleep and he wouldn’t have to tell Mark what was really going on. He knew he wouldn’t be able to tell the lawyer about the blackmail, or anything else that was going on at Williams. Mark wouldn’t be able to know about the lies or anything that they had really done over the past couple of months. He couldn’t understand what was going on without knowing what had really happened.

“It’s nothing.”

“Rob, what happened to you?” Mark asked.

“It’s just work.”

“Claire said you quit,” Mark said.

“Oh, so you’ve been talking to her and all?” Rob asked, opening his eyes a crack to glare at Mark. He acted like his friend, but sometimes he did things like this and Rob began to wonder if they would even talk to each other if Rob didn’t require Mark’s services.

“She phoned me,” Mark said. “She just wanted me to know what was going on. Didn’t think you would tell me. I wonder why.”

“I didn’t quit,” Rob muttered. “I was fired.”

“Why?”

“Because the company is full of shit,” Rob muttered.

“Rob, tell me what happened,” Mark demanded.

“Nothing,” Rob snapped. “I thought you were taking me home.”

“Right,” Mark said. “And when you get up this afternoon, you phone me, alright? We need to have a proper chat.”

“Right,” Rob mumbled, shutting his eyes again.


	20. Fluences

Frankie had been let into school before everyone else again and Felipinho hopped across the carpet as soon as he came in to sit beside his friend. Even though getting caught running away was a bad thing and he knew he was going to be in so much trouble, at least he and Frankie didn’t need to pretend to not be friends anymore. Felipinho bounced into the spot on the carpet beside Frankie, grinning. Frankie wasn’t smiling.

“What’s wrong?”

“Mummy said you’re a bad fluence,” Frankie said. “And I can’t be friends with you.”

“What’s a fluence?” Felipinho asked.

“Don’t know,” Frankie said. “But you’re a bad one.”

“I’m not.”

“That’s what my mummy said.”

“Your mummy’s lying,” Felipinho said. “I think she’s a bad guy, like my papa, and your papa is a good guy. I’m not a bad anything.”

“She’s not lying,” Frankie said, a little too loudly. “Mummies can’t lie.”

“Yes they can,” Felipinho shouted, because Frankie was being stupid again. “Your mummy lied when she said there was no heaven, didn’t she? And she told your papa that she wasn’t friends with John when she was. Mummies can lie, and they do.”

“No they don’t,” Frankie shouted back. “You got me into trouble. Maybe you are the bad guy.”

“I’m your friend.”

“Not anymore,” Frankie said. “You’re a fluence and a bad one.”

“Mr Ricciardo!” Felipinho said, sticking his hand in the air.

“What are you doing?” Frankie asked.

“You called me a name and Mr Ricciardo said I had to tell him if anyone called me a name.”

“I didn’t,” Frankie said, tears building in his eyes because he couldn’t get in trouble again. “I didn’t call you a name, Felipinho.”

“Yes you did! Mr Ricciardo!”

“What’s the matter?” Dan asked, looking down at them. Both boys looked as if they were about to burst into tears and apparently, no, their little chats weren’t working.

“Frankie called me a name.”

“I didn’t.”

“You did.”

“Woah, calm down,” Dan said, trying not to laugh at the two of them. “Come on. We’ll go outside and have a chat.”

“You’re not going to phone Papa, are you?” Felipinho asked. That couldn’t happen. He was already in huge trouble and this would only make things work.

“Not yet, no,” Dan said, holding out a hand to pull Felipinho up. “Come on.”

 

_“This just isn’t working, Rob,” Lucy said, holding his hands across the table. It wasn’t working. That was one way to put it._

_“We’ll make it work,” Rob said, quietly. “We’ll make it work like we always have done. Lucy…”_

_He was rubbing circles into the back of her hand with his thumb, like he always would. It was comforting. Or it had been. It didn’t seem to be working today. It didn’t stop the tears creeping down her pale face and it didn’t stop her shaking her head._

_“We can’t,” Lucy said. “It isn’t fair on any of us. It just isn’t working.”_

_“Is it me?” Rob asked, his voice shaking when it got louder. “Is it something I’m doing? Because I’ll change if you need me to, Lucy. I can. I’ll make it work.”_

_“It’s us,” Lucy said, trying not to bite. She took her hands away, resting them on her lap and rubbing her own circles into them. Rob took his own hands away to wipe his face. He wasn’t going to cry. He was going to be strong for both of them. And he wasn’t going to be hysterical. He was going to find a way out. Wasn’t that what he did? Find ways to make things better? “I wouldn’t ask you to change, Rob. I don’t want you do change.”_

_“Then what do you want, Lucy?” Rob asked. “Tell me and I will make it happen.”_

_“I don’t need you to do anything.”_

_“You can’t just give up on this,” Rob said. She couldn’t. They had come too far for that and he was not going to let her throw all that away. “I love you. And you love me. I know you do. And I know I haven’t always been there for you and that’s why you’ve gone to John, but I will be, Lucy. Love. I will be, I promise.”_

_“It’s too late,” Lucy said, trying not to choke on her own words._

_“No. No, Lucy…”_

_“We’ve been struggling since before Felix was even born,” Lucy whispered. “Don’t lie to yourself, Rob, you know it’s true. We’ve been falling apart for years.”_

_“No.”_

_“I think it’s best if we both just get on with our lives,” Lucy said. “Seperately.”_

_“What about the kids?” Rob said. He wasn’t going to let them suffer. They’d already been through enough, Lucy and John making Frankie lie and the idiot protestors harassing them on their way to school. Rob was not going to let them get hurt because of this as well._

_“I’m not going to stop you seeing them,” Lucy said._

_“Wouldn’t they be happier if their mummy and daddy were together?” Rob asked, trying to make her see sense._

_“They would be happier if their mummy and daddy were happy,” Lucy said. “And we’re just not, Rob. John makes me happy. Maybe you should find someone who makes you happy?”_

“What’s happened, then?” Dan asked, sitting in the corridor outside with Felipinho and Frankie on either side of him.

“Frankie called me a bad fluence,” Felipinho said.

“It’s just what my mummy called him,” Frankie said. He was already crying, fat tears rolling down his face. “Mummy said he was a bad fluence and that’s why we can’t be friends. And _he_ called my mummy a liar.”

“She is,” Felipinho said. “I’m not a bad fluence or any kind of fluence. I don’t even know what a fluence is.”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Dan said, gently, wiping Frankie’s tears with a tissue. “There’s no need to cry. I’m sure we’ll get this all sorted out. What’s this about you not being friends, hey?”

“Mummy said we can’t be friends, because he’s a bad fluence.”

“I’m _not_.”

“Hey, calm down,” Dan said with a smile. “I’m sure you’re not. Mummies just have to be extra protective, don’t they? And maybe you did something that Frankie’s mummy didn’t like very much.”

“She thinks I’m a bad person but I’m not,” Felipinho said. “You know I’m not, Frankie.”

“It’s because you said we should run away to the East,” Frankie pointed out, rubbing his eyes with the tissue Dan had given him.

“Well, why would you want to do something stupid like that then?” Dan asked, with a laugh.

Felipinho sighed. He couldn’t believe that Frankie would just tell a grown up what they had planned, even if the grown up was just Mr Ricciardo.

He explained to the teacher why they wanted to go to the East. Maybe they should have told him before, and then he could have helped, but he would probably have told their parents, which wasn’t a very good plan.

Dan sat on the floor whilst he listened, handing Frankie more tissues when he needed them and nodding to teachers as they passed.

“Right,” Dan said, slowly, once Felipinho had finished speaking and Frankie had added his own comments on the story. “I can get this sorted out, but I think I’m going to need to phone your parents.”

“No!” Felipinho said, jumping up. “You can’t!”

“Well, we can’t solve this alone, can we?” Dan said, gently. “It’s ok. I’ll get them to stay in after school today. Let’s get you two back to lesson now, alright.”

 

Mark rang after Rob’s third cup of coffee and Rob thought himself awake enough to answer it.

“Hey?”

“How are you feeling?” Mark asked.

“Like crap,” Rob muttered. He couldn’t believe he’d thought that was a good idea. At the time it seemed like the only option and maybe it had been affective for a while, but it hadn’t done anything in the grand scheme of things.

“Drink some coffee,” Mark suggested.

“You should have been a doctor,” Rob said, putting the kettle on again. Another cup wouldn’t do him any harm.

“Ok, do you want to come in or do you want me to tell you what I’ve been up to over the phone?” Mark asked. “I really don’t mind. I’ve fuck all else to do.”

“Just tell me over the phone,” Rob said. He didn’t think he could stand going out today.

“Right, well, I’ve requested a meeting with Lucy and her solicitors so we can get this all sorted out,” Mark said. “I told them you were free whenever, I hope you don’t mind. Figured you wouldn’t have much to do now you quit.”

“I was fired,” Rob pointed out, as if that really mattered.

“So, yeah, that’s what’s going on there,” Mark said. “They’re going to try to convince her to come to this meeting, but really we’re just waiting on her reply too. Also, if you go near her house again she’s phoning the police. She wants a restraining order and if you don’t keep your distance she’s going to apply for one.”

“Do you think she’d get one?” Rob asked.

“I don’t know, but it’s best to stay safe, mate,” Mark said. “We wait for her to arrange this meeting, we go to it, we talk things over, you actually _listen_ to me this time, and we organise proper visits for you and the boys.”

“And what if she doesn’t arrange anything?” Rob asked.

Mark sighed. Over the phone it sounded like a rush of static and was in no way settling.

“Mark? What if she doesn’t arrange anything?”

“Well, she can’t leave the country until we get all this sorted out,” Mark said. “She’ll arrange something, don’t worry.”

 

Lucy did not look impressed when Felipe followed Dan into the little meeting room. Felipe was getting sick of the meeting room himself. Felipinho wouldn’t look at him when Felipe sat down beside his son, looking between the teacher and Lucy.

“So,” Dan said, sitting on the edge of the desk. “Frankie and Felipinho got into a bit of a disagreement earlier. No fists this time, thankfully.”

He tried laughing but Lucy just scowled him and the look Felipe gave didn’t look much better, so he sighed instead.

“Who wants to explain?”

“Frankie said I was a bad fluence,” Felipinho said, quietly. He wouldn’t look up from the floor. He didn’t want to look at any of the bad guys.

“A what?” Felipe asked.

“A bad fluence,” Frankie said. “It’s what mummy said.”

“And he is one,” Lucy said, coldly. “Encouraging my child to run away from home.”

“I didn’t,” Felipinho said. “He wanted to run away too, didn’t you Frankie?”

Frankie didn’t say anything, squirming when his mother looked at him. Felipinho shook his arm.

“He did. He doesn’t want to go away with _you_ because _you’re a_ meanie. We want to be friends and you won’t let us.”

“So, you can see we’ve got some problems we need to discuss,” Dan said, hoping he was going to be able to calm the situation before Lucy exploded. “Frankie and Felipinho are best friends. The best of friends. As you know, Mr Massa, and as I am sure you are aware Ms Smedley, Felipinho is going through a hard time and little spats like this isn’t really helping. The boys say you’re planning on moving away?”

“Yes,” Lucy said, shortly. “We’re moving away.”

“But Frankie doesn’t want to move away,” Felipinho said, nudging his friend’s arm. “Tell her.”

Frankie mumbled something nobody could hear, not looking up from the floor.

“Can you really blame me?” Lucy asked. “With his useless excuse of a father here and his friends encouraging him to do dangerous things.”

“Do not bring my son into this,” Felipe said. “The only reason they wanted to leave was because you were taking Frankie away. Of course Felipinho came up with the idea. Your son is too stupid to come up with it himself.”

“Excuse me?”

“Ms Smedley, Mr Massa, calm down, this isn’t helping,” Dan said, his usual smile gone.

“No, if he’s going to insult my son.”

“You called mine a bad influence.”

“Stop,” Dan snapped, making both Frankie and Felipinho jump. Mr Ricciardo never raised his voice, except when it was something dangerous or if he was really excited. Frankie finally looked up from the floor, his face puffy and red from crying. “This is not helping. It’s clear neither child is happy with the situation and whilst I understand it is your decision where you take your children, Ms Smedley, I would suggest you explain properly to Frankie what is going on.”

“I don’t need to be told how to look after my children,” Lucy said, standing. “Come on, Frankie, we’re going.”

“Ms Smedley, wait a second.”

“No,” Lucy said. “And I’ll be speaking to Mr Jones about this.”


	21. A Grown Up Explains

“Ooh, going anywhere special… Wow, that sounds nice… I’m sure it will be… Yeah, we should be able to get someone there in fifteen minutes… Yep, thanks… And name… right, thanks… Bye.”

Felipinho was watching Jenson on the switch because he didn’t really want to go to sleep. He was still angry and upset and he didn’t want to go to sleep angry and upset in case he had nightmares. But staying awake was boring and he was sure he was going to fall asleep because he was so bored.

“Jenson?” he said, quietly. Maybe he could make him a little less bored and it would be easier to stay awake.

“What’s up mate?” Jenson asked, spinning around on the chair to face the child. “Can’t sleep.”

Felipinho shook his head, his thumb in his mouth.

“What’s the matter then?” Jenson asked with a smile, pushing the chair over so he could sit beside Felipinho. “You don’t normally have trouble sleeping. Are you feeling poorly?”

Felipinho shook his head again, sitting up. “I’m not poorly.”

“Then what’s up?”

“I’m bored.”

“Sleeping isn’t supposed to be exciting, little man,” Jenson said. “Do you need me to help you go to sleep? I’m sure I can bore you to sleep.”

“Can I ask you something?” Felipinho asked.

“Yeah,” Jenson said, slowly, immediately trying to figure out what kind of thing a five year old would ask questions about.

“What’s a fluence?”

“A what?”

“A fluence,” Felipinho repeated. “Frankie’s mummy said I was a bad fluence because we ran away but we ran away because Frankie’s mummy’s going to take him away and Papa says I can’t be friends with him.”

“Oh, an _in_ fluence,” Jenson said. “Well, an influence is… if you’re an influence, you make other people do things they wouldn’t normally do.”

“But I didn’t make Frankie do anything,” Felipinho said. “We both wanted to run away.”

“What’s this about running away, anyway?” Jenson asked. He guessed that was why Felipe was late the day before, but that could have been any number of reasons with Felipe.

“We were going to run away,” Felipinho explained. There was no use keeping a secret anymore. Everybody knew what he and Frankie had tried to do. Telling Jenson wasn’t going to do any harm. “We were going to go to the East. Maybe it was my idea, but Frankie _wanted_ to do it too. Papa is being nasty and saying I can’t be friends with him and Frankie’s mummy is being nasty and she is going to take him away. I didn’t know what else to do.”

And then Mr Ricciardo had only made things worse and now Frankie’s mummy was definitely going to take him away. It was just getting worse and worse and he didn’t know how he was supposed to make it better. Maybe Frankie’s papa could help, but Felipinho wasn’t so sure.

“Hey, no frownie faces in here, young man,” Jenson said, tickling Felipinho under the chin and forcing him to laugh. “So, Frankie’s your best friend, then.”

Felipinho nodded, rubbing his eyes. He was rubbing his eyes because he was tired, _not_ because he was going to cry. Jenson said no frownie faces and that meant no crying.

“And why do you think his mummy is going to take him away then,” Jenson said, sure this was all just a misunderstanding.

“Because she said so,” Felipinho said, his voice shaking. “She said she was going to take him to live somewhere far away, somewhere where I won’t be and his papa won’t be either.”

“Oh,” Jenson said. Maybe it wasn’t all a misunderstanding. “Right, do you know Kevin?”

Felipinho shook his head. He didn’t know anybody called Kevin.

“Right,” Jenson said. “Well, Kevin is my best friend. And, at the moment, he works here, in the day time. But he’s leaving soon. He’s going to move far away too.”

“Really?” Felipinho asked, sitting up properly. Jenson didn’t look sad that his best friend was moving away. It was probably a grown up trick. He was probably lying to try to make him happy, but it wasn’t going to work.

“Really,” Jenson said. “That’s why he can’t work here anymore. And I was a little bit sad to begin with, but then he said that we could still talk and be friends. And we found ways to make sure we’re still going to be friends. Like writing letters and talking to each other on the phone and things. And I’ll get to visit him some times and I’ll get to see where he lives, which will be exciting, won’t it?”

He grinned and Felipinho smiled back. It didn’t sound like a grown up trick, or a lie.

“Maybe,” Felipinho said. “Do you think I will be able to write letters to Frankie?”

“Yeah,” Jenson said. “And maybe you get your daddy to help you. And to phone him sometimes. And on the school holidays you can go and see him. Does that sound good?”

“Suppose,” Felipinho said, fiddling with his blankets. “But I still don’t want him to go. Because then I won’t have any friends.”

“Who wouldn’t want to be friends with someone like you?” Jenson asked, tickling the child’s neck so he would look up at him.

Felipinho’s smile fell as soon as Jenson removed his hand. “Everybody.”

“Why’s that then?” Jenson asked.

“Because they’re nasty and think I’m a cry baby,” Felipinho said, quietly. And maybe he was a cry baby, because he was always crying but that was because he was always sad and he couldn’t make himself happy. Frankie could make him happy but if Frankie wasn’t there then he was going to be _even more_ sad.

“Well, they’re just silly,” Jenson said. “You know how to make them not be silly though. You have to show them what you’re really like. You have to show them the Felipinho that Frankie likes and I’m sure they’ll want to be your friend then.”

“You think?”

“Yep,” Jenson said. He was pretty good at this kind of thing, he thought to himself proudly.

“Alright,” Felipinho said with a small smile. “I’ll try tomorrow at school.”

“Good idea,” Jenson said. “Right. Are you going to go to sleep now?”

Yawning, Felipinho nodded, snuggling down in his chair.

“Alright then. Good night.”

 

_Maybe I should come over. Keep you company._

Rob was convinced that, for some reason, Mark thought he was going to do something stupid when he had insisted on coming over “just to keep you company”. Rob didn’t bother arguing. He’d spent the day looking for work, because there was no way anybody was going to let him have the boys if he didn’t have a job. He just needed something like Williams, but less… dangerous. Maybe he could be head of PR for some cheese manufacturer. There would be nobody threatening his children due to some faulty cheese order from a dodgy cow.

“You know, she’s worried about you,” Mark said, watching Rob ignore him (he’d been as good a host as he could be, offering tea and such, but when the Australian refused, he didn’t have much of a back-up plan).

“Who?” Rob asked, hitting send on the cheese manufacturer application.

“Claire.”

Rob rolled his eyes. “I don’t care.” And he didn’t. If this was Claire’s way of offering him his job back, she could come up with a better way. One with better money. And better protection from terrorists.

“I didn’t think you would,” Mark said. “She’s been asking after you, you know. She just wants to make sure you’re not doing anything stupid.”

Ah… no, this wasn’t Claire’s way of offering him his job back. This was her way of making sure he wasn’t going to tell anyone what they had done. Why she would think he would do something like that, he didn’t know. What did he have to gain from doing something like that? Definitely not a good reference from Claire if the cheese company ever wanted one.

But it was what the terrorists wanted. The terrorists that were threatening to hurt his children if the truth didn’t come out.

“Rob?” Mark asked when Rob didn’t reply.

“I need to make a phone call,” Rob said. Mark may have been his friend, but he would probably tell Claire what was going on. Rob knew he didn’t have his loyalty. And if he was going to do this properly, Claire couldn’t find out until it was too late.

“You’re not… you’re not doing anything stupid, are you?” Mark asked, standing.

“No,” Rob said. “Of course not.”

“Alright,” Mark said, not sure if he should believe his friend or not. “Do you want me to wait in the other room or…?”

“No, I need you to get out.”

“Oh, thanks.”

“Sorry, but it’s kind of important, Mark please,” Rob said, quickly, trying to hurry him out of the house. “I need to make a phone call.”

“Alright,” Mark said. “But please don’t do anything stupid, alright?”

“Alright.”

Rob wasn’t going to be doing anything stupid. This was probably the only clever thing he’d done in months.


	22. Making Things Better

Rob was at the studio far earlier than he needed to be and was rushed through the reception area. He had made it clear to Channel Six that nobody could know about this until the interview was aired, live of course. This was possibly his only chance to protect his children and he wasn’t going to have Claire or anybody else ruin it.   
Checking his phone whilst he willed the hours away in the news’ green room, Claire still hadn’t contacted him. She couldn’t know what was going on or what he was planning. She would try to stop it, because this was going to look awful for Williams, and the government, and just about everyone else. And this probably wasn’t going to get him the job at the cheese company either, but he didn’t care.   
There was a small TV in the green room playing a live broadcast, but Rob couldn’t hear it over the noise of the other guests chatting. He could see them glancing at him in a disapproving manner ever couple of minutes, but right now he didn’t care. Because he was about to do the right thing and they could not stop him.  
Still nothing from Claire. Or anybody. He thought about trying to contact Lucy, but he didn’t know what he would say even if she did answer, so Rob shoved his phone back into his pocket and waited for the producer to come and collect him.  
One by one, the guests left the room for their segment and the room became quieter and quieter. As their conversation options became less and less, some of the other guests looked in Rob’s direction in the hope of conversation, but a glare kept them away. There was nobody here that didn’t fit Channel Six’s usual parade of madness, and nobody that Rob really felt the need to have a conversation with.  
A wildlife expert was the unfortunate soul to be the last one left in the green room with Rob. He sat opposite Rob, trying not to catch his eye as much as Rob was trying not to catch his. The silence was uncomfortable and Rob was tempted to take out his phone again, but he’d put that away for now and was determined not to check it until after his segment. Claire didn’t know what he was doing, he reminded himself. There was no need to worry.  
“Mr Martin,” a producer said with a clearly fake smile. “Would you like to come with me?”  
The wildlife expert stood and, with a short nod to Rob, left. Rob fell back in his chair, relaxing a little now that he was alone and there was no chance anybody would be reading his thoughts.  
He just needed to get this out the way – tell the truth – and then everything would be ok. There was a possibility it could even go some way to convincing Lucy to not take the kids away.  
The door opened again and Rob resurfaced from his thoughts. He stood, but on the TV, the wildlife expert was only just beginning his speech about badgers. He couldn’t be needed already.  
His face fell as soon as he saw who was at the door.

Felipe wasn’t sure which was stranger, seeing Felipinho with a smile on his face or walking into the office to find him chatting away to Jenson.  
“Good morning.”  
“Good morning Papa,” Felipinho sang, glancing his way for a second before diving straight back into his conversation with Jenson.  
“Are you ok?” Felipe asked, looking between Jenson and Felipinho.  
“Yep!”  
“Ok,” Felipe said, slowly. “Are you going to say good bye then? We need to get back and get ready for school.”  
“Alright,” Felipinho said, stumbling out of his blankets and collecting his little back pack of things. “Bye Jenson.”  
“Bye,” Jenson said with a laugh. “And remember what I said before about your friends.”  
“I will,” Felipinho promised, waving with one hand and taking his father’s hand with the other.  
“Thank you,” Felipe said. He didn’t know what had happened but he was sure it was Jenson’s fault his son was smiling again.  
Felipinho didn’t say anything on the way to the car, his smile slowly falling off of his face until he was back to his now standard little frown. Felipe tried to ignore it but there was definitely something wrong again. What had happened in the five minutes between leaving the office and getting into the car?  
“Papa?” he asked, once the car was started and they were on their way home.  
“Yeah?”  
“If Frankie does have to move away, can I write letters to him?” he asked. “Like Jenson will to his friend Kevin?”  
Well, that was progress. Felipe was sure it was going to take him months after Frankie had left to accept the fact that he was gone. Because no matter what Rob tried to tell the kids, Felipe was sure Lucy was going to take him away.   
“Probably yeah,” he said. “Maybe if you’re very good then Frankie’s mummy might tell us his address so we can write him letters.”  
“And then we can still be friends, can’t we?” Felipinho said cheerfully, smiling again.  
“Yeah,” Felipe said. He didn’t think convincing Lucy was going to be quite as easy as that, but she would come around eventually. She would have to, if it was going to keep Felipinho in this mood.

A few hours later, whilst they were on the school playground, Frankie, Felix, and their mother were nowhere to be seen. Getting the address was going to be even more difficult that Felipe had originally thought.  
Felipinho looked across the playground, sniffing a little. He had to be brave now and do what Jenson said. He had to make friends with the other children. Or at least one. He had to show somebody he wasn’t a cry baby. So that he would have at least one person to play with if Frankie did have to go away.  
“Are you ok?” Felipe asked when his son let go of his hands.  
Felipinho nodded. “Going to go and place with Alex.”  
“Alex?” Felipe asked. Yes, something was definitely wrong. Maybe he’d had a car crash and this was all a dream. That would make some kind of sense. More sense than this.  
Felipinho nodded, definitely. He could see Alex with his papa waiting for his friends and maybe, if it was only one person, it would be easier to convince him he wasn’t a cry baby and make friends.  
“Alright then,” Felipe said. If this was some coma dream, what could go wrong?  
Dumping his school bag with his father, Felipinho skipped off across the playground, smiling his bestest, most cheerfulest smile he had.  
“Hello, Alex.”  
The other boy didn’t say anything for a while, purposefully ignoring Felipinho, until his papa nudged him, saying something Felipinho didn’t understand.  
“Hello,” he said. He sounded bored.  
“Do you want to play races?” Jenson said he had to be the Felipinho he was with Frankie, and that was somebody who liked to play races, so maybe Alex would to.  
“Not with you.”  
“Why?” Felipinho asked. It was because he was a cry baby, wasn’t it? “I’m not even slow.”  
“I don’t want to play with you,” Alex said. “You play with your friends.”  
“But I want you to be my friend too.”  
“I already have friends,” Alex said.  
“You can have more than just some friends,” Felipinho said. “You can have as many friends as you want to have.”  
“Well, I want to have four friends,” Alex said. “And I already have four friends, so I don’t need to be your friend.”  
Now what was he supposed to do? Felipinho tried to think about what Jenson would say, if he were here, but he couldn’t, so he tried to think of what he had already said. What would he say to Frankie, if Alex was him?  
“I bet you just don’t want to do races because you’re really slow,” he said with a smile.  
“I am not slow.”  
“Bet you’re not faster than me.”  
“I am,” Alex said.   
“Show me then.”  
“Fine,” Alex said, letting go of his father’s hand. “Race you to the end of the playground and back.”

“Hi Rob. It’s Claire. I’m at your house and either you’re invisible all of a sudden or you’re not in, and I’ve not got time to wait around so I’m just going to tell you this over the phone. I was wrong. I’m sorry. We’re going to need you to come back in. Please. There’s more money, if you want more money, and we can give you a daily update on what we’re doing to find the guy watching Frankie and Felix, if you want. And we are doing things. Ok, I can’t go into details on the phone, but if you phone me back when you get a chance and we can discuss. I was wrong. You were right. I’m sorry.”  
“Hey, mate. Mark, obviously. Might be a good idea if you answer your bloody phone every once in a while, hey? Lucy’s phoned and… well, I don’t think we should really talk about this over the phone, mate, so do you want to give me a call and I can come over. Or you come here. I don’t mind. Kind of important.”  
“If this is some game or something, Rob, I’ve not got time for it. We’ve enough to deal with without you sending threats, ok? Come and talk to me.”  
“Rob, this isn’t funny. Answer the phone.”


	23. Preparing for Changes

At one point he’d tried counting seconds, like he saw in a film, but then he realised there was very little use in that, as he had no idea what he was supposed to do with the seconds, and because he hadn’t exactly started when he’d been… well, kidnapped. This was a kidnapping, Rob was sure of that. It was about the only thing he was sure of. How Williams had found out what he was planning on doing, he didn’t know. Oh, and he was sure it was Williams too. Who else would do something like this?

It stank of fish and sea water when Rob was taken, blindfolded, from the back of the van, stumbling over his own feet as he was quickly guided out of the freezing cold wind and into a building. It was still cold, and it still stank, but at least the biting wind had been left outside and there was a little comfort in that.

When whoever was holding onto him let go, Rob stumbled onto the concrete floor, hands tied behind his back and unable to catch himself. A foot was pressed against the small of his back and he became still. The pressure grew until Rob felt stubble graze against his ear and a breath flutter across his cheeks.

“We don’t like liars.”

 

Alex only wanted to play until his real friends came, but that didn’t matter, because they only came when it was nearly time to go inside anyway. The other boy smiled at Felipinho as he left to go back to wait with his father, who’d been left to wait awkwardly with the ninja turtles lunch box and his school bag.

“What was that?” he asked, still a little confused.

“We were doing races,” Felipinho explained, as if it was obvious. “I let Alex win twice because it’s not good to win all the time.”

“Yeah,” Felipe said, half-heartedly. Well, he was making friends, or trying to at least. Felipe knew he should be happy about this, but it just felt strange. “Look, there’s your teacher. You can go inside now.”

“You’re going to talk to Frankie’s mummy, though, aren’t you?” Felipinho said. If he was making the effort to make sure he was going to be ok _if_ Frankie did have to go away, then his father had better be doing the same.

“I will ask her the next time I see her,” Felipe promised, handing Felipinho his school bag and lunch box. “Have a good day.”

“I will,” Felipinho promised, skipping into the classroom after the other kids.

Frankie was crying when Felipinho sat down beside him, which was very, very not a good thing. Mr Ricciardo wasn’t in today, at his own school for the day, which meant Felipinho was going to have to cheer him up by himself.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, quietly.

Frankie was hiding his face, to stop the other children seeing, Felipinho guessed. It was probably a good idea. He put his arm over Frankie’s shoulders.

“If you tell me what’s wrong, maybe I can make it better,” he said, quietly.

“Y-y-you can’t make it b-b-better,” Frankie sniffed, shuffling away from Felipinho so his arm slid off his back. Felipinho just shuffled over to him.

“Maybe,” Felipinho said. “Let me try.”

“You _can’t_ ,” Frankie snapped.

“What’s wrong?” Felipinho said. “You have to tell me. I’m your best friend.”

“Mummy and John have found a house that they want us to move to,” Frankie said. “And I have to start a new school and I’ll never get to see Daddy or you and _see_? There’s nothing you can do.”

“But you’re not going to go,” Felipinho said, gently, wiping Frankie’s eyes. “Because your papa said he was going to stop your mummy. He promised. And he’ll do something. Maybe he’ll rescue you and Felix at the last moment, like in a film or something. But you won’t have to move away.”

“But Mummy said…”

“It doesn’t matter,” Felipinho promised. “It will get better. And… and if it doesn’t, maybe you will like it at your new school. You didn’t think you would like it here, but you did.”

“Yeah, suppose,” Frankie said, picking at the bottom of his shoe. “But I don’t want to like it. I want to stay here.”

“I know, and you will,” Felipinho said, hugging his friend. “But maybe, if you don’t, then it won’t be a bad thing. Jenson and Papa say we can write letters to each other, and come and visit some times, and it won’t be as good as you being here, but it won’t be that bad, will it?”

“Maybe,” Frankie said. “Do you really think Daddy can make Mummy stay here?”

“Yeah,” Felipinho said. “He’s the good guy, I told you. I bet he can do anything.”

 

Rob had no idea how long he’d been left alone, but his stomach told him it was well past lunch time when he heard footsteps again. His head shot up as the footsteps drew closer, not sure what to expect anymore. Something told him this wasn’t Williams and, at first, he wasn’t sure if this was a good thing or not. Then he realised these were probably people who had already slaughtered thousands of people just for fun and no, this was very much not a good thing.

“Up,” someone barked and Rob tried his best to stand before there were hands under his arms and he was lifted up, his feet dragging across the floor when he was moved, even as he tried to walk himself.

It was no use. He was dead. They’d find his body in this warehouse or wherever the hell he was and somebody would realise “ _oh, that’s where Rob went_ ” and that would be it.

“We told you what we wanted.” They weren’t talking to Rob. “We do not think the truth is too much to ask for.” This was for Claire, and her father, and everyone else that ran the stupid company. “We want you to tell them what you’ve done. Either you publicly tell them your part in our success by the end of the week, or he dies.”

“What?”

Something was pressed against the back of Rob’s head and he didn’t need to be able to see to know what it was.

“No, let him speak,” someone said. When the voice spoke again it was a lot closer to him and Rob shuddered. “Speak to your boss, Smedley. It might be the last thing you ever say.”

Rob gulped. It was probably true, and he couldn’t waste it. Neither could he afford to say something they wouldn’t like.

“I know you’re not going to do what they say,” Rob said, his voice shaking no matter how hard he tried to compose himself. “Because your selfish bastards, the lot of you. But make sure Lucy knows. Make sure the boys are safe.”

“Either it comes from you or it comes from us, Williams,” the voice said, backing away from Rob. “Your choice is whether your man stays alive to see his mess unfold or not.”

 

“Ms Smedley, there’s a gentleman here to see you.” The receptionist looked between Felipe and her computer, not sure what to make of the stranger. Felipe smiled back, hopefully. It was clear Lucy wasn’t going to be at the school any time soon – and Felipe really didn’t blame her if it was the possibility of running into Rob that was keeping her away – and he wanted to at least do his best to answer Felipinho’s wishes.

“If it’s Rob-.”

“No, it isn’t him, ma’am,” the receptionist said, looking up at Felipe again. “He says he needs to speak to you, concerning your son.”

Felipe didn’t hear the reply but, judging by the relieved look on the receptionist’s face, it was a positive one. He smiled hopefully at her again when she put the phone down and looked up at him.

“Ms Smedley will be down shortly,” she said. “I must warn you, there’s a meeting scheduled in for ten o’clock so you won’t have long.”

“That’s ok,” Felipe said. He hoped he wasn’t going to need long. He’d be able to make Lucy see sense, wouldn’t he? After her performance at the school, he wasn’t that hopeful, but she would have calmed down by now, and there had to be a chance.

Lucy came into the reception waiting area smiling, but the smile soon dropped as soon as she saw who was waiting for her. The receptionist apparently noticed the look, keeping her head down and suddenly typing furiously.

“What do you want?” Lucy asked.

“I just came to speak to you,” Felipe said, standing. “Is about Frankie. And Felipinho.”

“If Rob has sent you-.”

“Why would Rob send me?” Felipe asked. “Hate him as much as you do.”

Lucy considered the fact, but said nothing.

“Am sorry, about what I said yesterday,” Felipe said. “Should not have said that. Am sure Frankie is a very bright little boy.”

“Top ten of the class,” Lucy said, coldly.

“Was just upset, and stressed,” Felipe said, slowly. “Is a very difficult time for me, you know. And am sure it is for Felipinho too.”

He looked up at Lucy hopefully. No, he wasn’t supposed to be using his situation to get whatever he wanted, but if it could get him what Felipinho wanted, then it couldn’t be that bad, could it?

“I suppose it’s understandable,” Lucy said, her voice softening a little.

“Yeah,” Felipe said, quietly. “Understand why you want to move away. Would want to move away too if I were you.”

“And here comes the but,” Lucy said, folding her arms.

“No,” Felipe said. “Well, Felipinho would be happier if you and Frankie were not moving away, for sure, but… but it is your choice. Understand why you are doing it, like I said, and have no right to try to stop you. But Felipinho has gotten it in his head that he could write letters to Frankie. And Frankie could write back. Like pen pals.”

Lucy didn’t say anything for a little while, still glaring at Felipe.

“And you need our address,” she said.

“Yeah,” Felipe said. “Is not their fault, all of this. Would not be so hard to just send a letter every month of so.”

“I guess not,” Lucy said, her glare falling a little. “We don’t have anything certain yet. But I can send you the address once we’re settled.”

“Maybe Frankie could send the first letter,” Felipe suggested with a smile.

“Maybe,” Lucy said, quietly. “Is there anything else, because I do have a meeting?”

“No, that’s all,” Felipe said, smiling. “Thank you.”


	24. Strange Passengers

“Have you seen this?” Fernando asked when Felipe came into the office. He and Jenson were both hunched over a laptop screen.

“What is it now?” Felipe asked, trying to drop Felipinho onto his chair, only for Felipinho to cling on. He refused to let go until he was tickled and fell, grinning, onto the chair.

“This,” Jenson said, nodding towards the computer.

Felipe came over, peering between Jenson and Fernando.

“What is this?”

“The terrorists,” Fernando said. “They have released a video.”

He hit play before Felipe could protest and the screen lit up.

“It’s Frankie’s papa,” Felipinho said, peering past his father to see the screen.

It was. Or at least it looked like him. A hostage, with a gun pressed to the back of his head.

“Someone has been lying to you,” someone off camera said. “Someone has been lying to you about us, about the power we have over you…”

“What’s happening?” Felipinho said, worried.

“I’m not watching this,” Felipe said, quickly, closing the laptop. He shook his head when Jenson and Fernando looked up at him. “Not right now.”

“Papa?” Felipinho asked, worried.

“It’s ok,” Felipe said. “It wasn’t Frankie’s papa. Just someone that looks like him. There’s nothing to be scared about.”

“What is it?” Felipinho asked, sitting up so that his father could sit beside him.

“It’s just a new film,” Felipe promised, kissing the top of Felipinho’s head. “Too big for you. It doesn’t matter.”

He looked up at Jenson and Fernando, both of whom were looking pretty guilty. Felipe just rolled his eyes and pulled Felipinho onto his lap. They knew what they’d done and hopefully that was the end of it.

“Right, so what story do you want today?”

 

“All this could have been avoided, you know,” the voice said, laughing a little at the way Rob winced at the sound of his voice. He could barely move anymore, pain shooting through his chest every time he tried. It was only a few more days, he reasoned. A few more days and this would all be over, one way or another.

“All you had to do was tell the truth.”

The man’s breath reeked with alcohol and Rob felt he might get a little drunk off of it when he came closer.

He still couldn’t see and he couldn’t figure out why they were still keeping him blindfolded when he was going to die anyway. There was no way Claire was going to tell the truth, even if someone else was going to do it anyway. They would be making plans now for how they were going to convince people this was all lies.

They’d done another video. One for the news teams with the terrorists trying to get as much as they could out of their latest hostage. Rob hadn’t said anything that time. He could have told the truth, did what they wanted him to do, but he’d kept his mouth shut.

That would be the video that Frankie and Felix saw. That would be the last they ever saw of their father and he should have said something to them. He should have said something to convince them he wasn’t a waste of space or good for nothing or whatever it was Lucy and John were going to tell them growing up. He should have _told_ them, but he’d said nothing.

He couldn’t even remember the last thing he said to them. The last thing they’d remember was him arguing in the street with their mother. That was if they even remembered him. Frankie might, but Felix was too young. Felix would just remember him as the reason Frankie didn’t call John ‘Dad’ and he _couldn’t_ let that happen.

It wasn’t like he had much choice over that now.

“All you had to do was tell the truth.”

 

“We’re sorry,” Jenson said over the radio when Felipe had dropped off his latest passenger. “We just thought you would want to know. We didn’t think.”

“Know that,” Felipe said. “Is it really him?”

“Looks like it,” Jenson said. “Williams haven’t said anything concerning it, of course, but I doubt these guys have gotten it wrong.”

“Poor Frankie.”

“Yeah,” Jenson said. “Can’t imagine what the mother’s going through.”

“Oh, she is not with him anymore,” Felipe said. “Will probably be glad he is out of her hair. No… that sounded horrible. Did not mean it like that.”

“I know you didn’t,” Jenson said. “Anyway. You’ve got another call. Down at the docks.”

“The docks?” Felipe asked. “Did not even think people still used them.”

“Me neither,” Jenson said. “But that’s what they said. Dock gate four. How long do you reckon? Twenty five minutes?”

“Could probably get there in twenty,” Felipe said, turning the car around. “Do they have a name?”

“Wait a second, I wrote it down,” Jenson said.

Felipe rolled his eyes, listening to the ruffling off papers as his co-worker tried to find the name he’d had written down.

“How long ago did you write it down?”

“Got it,” Jenson said. “It’s David Wong.”

“Wong?” Felipe snorted. “What kind of name is David Wong?”

“This guy’s name, I guess,” Jenson said. “There’s three of them. Let me know when you drop them off.”

“Will do…”

 

The three men stumbled out of the grounds of one of the warehouses that serviced the docks, locking the gate in the wire fence behind them. Two were clearly drunk, but the third man seemed to be better at hiding it. One of the three leaned into the car and identified himself as Wong and climbed into the passenger seat whilst his friends climbed into the back. Wong gave their destination and Felipe pulled away from the warehouse, doing his best to ignore their conversation.

“What do you reckon?” Wong asked, turning in his seat to talk to his friends. “John? John, what do you reckon? You think they’re going to say anything.”

“I hope not,” one of the men in the back – presumably John – said.

“Shut up, Dave,” the third man, the most sober of the three, said.

In the rear view mirror, Felipe watched the third man nod towards him. Wong grinned and giggled, nodding, before pressing a finger to his lips.

The voice. Felipe knew the voice.

“So,” Felipe said, slowly, once a silence had settled. “What brings you to the docks so late?”

He smiled, hoping to ease his passengers, but none of them said anything. Wong and John both looked over at their friend, waiting for him to reply.

“Don’t worry,” Felipe laughed. “Is nothing to do with me if you have snuck into work for a drink, hey? Would maybe do the same if it was not driving.”

“Yeah,” the sober friend said. “Well, you get why we would rather keep this to ourselves.”

It was him. The speaker from the video. Or it sounded like him at least.

 _Now_ what did he do?

“Yeah,” Felipe said, laughing a little and hoping the men hadn’t noticed he knew. His hands tightened around the steering wheel so hard he had difficulty unclenching his fist to change gear.

Wong and John continued to grin and joke with one another, keeping their conversation away from whatever they had been doing at the dock warehouse, but their friend remained silent. Felipe glanced up at them every couple of minutes, trying not to create suspicion but he thought – no, he knew – these guys had kidnapped someone. These guys were… these guys worked for the same organisation that had killed Raffaela.

 _Fuck_.

“Are you alright?” Wong asked, seeming to notice something was wrong.

“Yeah,” Felipe lied.

“You sure?” Wong asked, leaning in a little too close.

“Am fine,” Felipe lied. “Just remembered it is the anniversary tomorrow and have not got anything for it.”

“Ah, we’ve all been there,” Wong laughed.

“Oh,” John moaned. “The amount of times I’ve forgotten Lucy’s kid’s birthdays or something. You would think it was the end of the world.”

“Yeah,” Felipe laughed a little. He didn’t have that much further to go. He’d drop them off, make sure he remembered the address, go to make sure these people actually _had_ Rob and this wasn’t all in his head…

“Women care too much about that kind of thing,” Wong said, getting nods of agreement from both his friends. The sober friend seemed to have lightened up a little, no longer glaring at Felipe suspiciously whenever he glanced up at him. That had to be a good thing.

They weren’t the kind of people Felipe would have suspected of being part of some terrorist organisation. They were _normal_. They were having the same kind of conversation he would have with Jenson and Fernando. They were like him.

Maybe he had made it all up.

“I told you getting involved with Lucy would be a bad idea,” the unnamed friend said and there was no way Felipe could mistake that voice.

 

“Just pull up over here lad,” John said, patting Felipe on the shoulder before waking Wong, who had managed to talk himself to sleep.

Felipe pulled up at the side of the road, almost forgetting to ask for the fare, his mind elsewhere. The still unnamed friend handed him a note and let him keep the fifteen pence change, before climbing out and helping John take Wong into one of the houses.

Felipe watched them go, fumbling with the radio. He needed to tell Jenson. He needed to be told what to do.

“Jenson?”

“You finished that one?” Jenson asked, cheerfully. “Great, I’ve got two students outside the Cube in town waiting.”

“No,” Felipe said, shaking. “No, the guys I was just driving…”

“What about them?” Jenson asked. “They haven’t thrown up, have they?”

“No, Jenson, they were them,” Felipe said.

Jenson laughed. “You alright, Felipe? Who’s them?”

“Them,” Felipe said again. “The ones from the video.”

“What video? The one with Smedley?”

“ _Yes_ ,” Felipe said. “I recognised one of their voices. It was him, Jenson. They have Smedley at the docks.”

“Hang on a second, calm down,” Jenson said. “Are you sure? Have you _seen_ Smedley, or is this all based on the sound of his voice?”

“No, I have not _seen_ Smedley,” Felipe said. The more he thought about it, the stupider this sounded, but he knew what he had heard and he couldn’t just brush this away. “I’m going to go back and see if I can find him. It was them, Jenson. Know it was.”

“Alright,” Jenson said, his voice soft and Felipe got the feeling it was supposed to be soothing, but it just made Felipe panic even more. “Alright, you go back, and phone me when you get there, ok? Just… be careful. If it _is_ them, it’s not very likely they’ve left him alone, is it?”

Felipe couldn’t tell if Jenson believed him or not. If Jenson _did_ believe him, the Brit was probably as insane as he was.

“Alright.”

“Phone me and, if you find him, phone the police,” Jenson advised. “And don’t do anything stupid.”


	25. Rescue Attempts

The docks were deserted by the time Felipe arrived back at them. Street lights from the road were the only light and it left the docks and warehouses that serviced them looking even more abandoned than they did in the day light.

Felipe stopped the car where he had done to pick up Wong and his friends, able to see the gate they had come out from clearly. It was locked, but Felipe was sure he would be able to get over the fence with little difficulty. The docks weren’t patrolled anymore, no longer in use by anyone – with the exception of terrorists and kidnappers, of course.

All he had to do now was decide which of the three warehouses that were surrounded by the fencing Wong and his friends had come out from. It wouldn’t take long to check each of them, Felipe figured, but he didn’t really want to spend any more time there than necessary, especially considering Jenson’s warning about there being someone there, watching Rob – something he hadn’t considered before, stupidly enough.

He was stalling himself, he realised, and quickly hoped out of the car. He looked quickly back and forth, just to be sure there was nobody about, then skipped across the road to make his rescue attempt.

 

Rob was sure he must have fallen asleep at some point. He was getting used to falling asleep in awkward positions now, he realised. When he tried to stretch, he found it caused more pain than not and slumped back against the wall.

“Hello?”

He wasn’t sure if there was anyone there, or if they would answer him if there _was_ someone there, but something must have woken him up.

Rob held his breath for as long as he could, listening to the silence, but there was nobody there. He was about to give up and call out again when there was a crash somewhere a few rooms away.

“ _For fuck sake_.”

“Hello?”

That didn’t sound like anyone Rob had heard already that day. That didn’t mean it was anybody _good_ of course – he was sure there were move people beating the shit out of him than the voices he’d heard – but it wasn’t going to do any harm to call out.

Silence answered him and Rob sank back to slumping against the wall. Maybe he could go back to sleep. He didn’t really have anything else to do…

No, there were definitely footsteps. He wasn’t imagining it.

“Hello!” Rob called out again, sitting up a little and ignoring the pain in his back. Either it was about to get a lot worse or he was about to get rescued, so it didn’t really matter.

The footsteps stopped a moment, then they hurried in his direction. Rob heard a door creak and he hadn’t been aware there _was_ a door and he wasn’t entirely sure why his brain was focusing on that and please, please, _please_ just let him have this one piece of luck…

“Rob?”

“Felipe?” Rob’s forehead scrunched up in confusion. He was sure that was…

Felipe pulled the blindfold off of him, already fumbling with his phone in one hand.

There was nobody here. There should have been someone here, someone guarding him or something. They’d left him alone and the more Felipe thought about it, the more that didn’t seem right to him. Something was off.

“What are you doing here?” Rob asked, confused. Of all the people he’d thought would come and rescue him… ok, so there weren’t many people, but Felipe was definitely not on the list.

“Came to rescue you,” Felipe said, waiting for Jenson to pick up his phone. “Is this ok with you?”

“But how did you-? Where are we?”

“I have him,” Felipe said, ignoring Rob. “No there is nobody here… Well, I do not know when they are going to be coming back, do I?... I don’t know.”

He looked down at Rob, who hadn’t managed to stand up yet.

“Can you walk?” Felipe asked.

“I don’t…” Rob struggled onto his knees, trying to stand without the use of his hands. Felipe sighed impatiently, and helped him up. “I think so.”

“Yeah,” Felipe said, into the phone. “Alright… But make sure they know I did not do this, alright.”

He hung up before Jenson could answer and sighed again, looking up at Rob.

“Jenson has phoned the police,” he said. “But I don’t think it is a good idea to wait here, in case someone comes to check up on you. The taxi is outside. We can wait there.

“How did you find me?”

“Will explain when we are safe, ok?” Felipe said, pulling Rob back the way they had come. He didn’t have anything to cut the rope around Rob’s wrists, so they were just going to have to find a way over the fence without doing so, and Felipe could imagine _that_ was going to be fun, but there was no use in being pessimistic now…

 

“And then some twat threw me over a fucking fence,” Rob said, bitterly, whilst Felipe dabbed at his bleeding nose with a wet tissue. He was pretty sure it had been broken _before_ Rob had face planted the pavement, but the impact had started the bleeding again.

“Hold still,” Felipe snapped when Rob winced. They were waiting for the police in the back of the taxi, Rob’s hands still tied behind his back because Felipe still didn’t have anything to cut the rope with. Rob had just finished rehearsing his statement to the police and Felipe thought he sounded more annoyed than relieved. When he pointed this out, Rob told him to piss off.

“Could have left you there,” Felipe reminded him, putting the tissue down. “Could have left you there for them to kill you.”

“I know,” Rob said, quietly. “Thanks.”

“You are welcome,” Felipe said. “Think maybe you could say less about being pushed over the fence?”

And it was pushed, rather than thrown. Felipe didn’t know why but he felt the distinction should be made.

“How did you know where I was?” Rob asked again.

Felipe shrugged. “They ordered a taxi. I recognised their voice. Just lucky I suppose. Lucky for you, anyway. Now I have to sit here with you until the police get here. Does not seem so lucky for me.”

“Suppose not,” Rob said, looking out the window, over to the warehouse. It was beginning to get lighter now, the sun starting to poke its head over a horizon neither of them could see. He yawned, another night passed where he hadn’t slept properly.

“They should be here soon,” Felipe said. “Would think it was more of a priority, terrorism, but apparently not.”

“Apparently not,” Rob mumbled, sleepily.

“Hey, no going to sleep,” Felipe said, poking him in the side. “Do not want you passed out in my car and then they arrest me before they know what has happened. Stay awake.”

“I’ll try,” Rob said, yawing again.

“Was scary, you know,” Felipe continued, trying to keep Rob awake. “Thought they might notice when I figured it out, or that there would be someone guarding you and I would have to fight to get you out of there. Was very scary.”

“You want a medal?” Rob asked.

“Do not think one would be out of place,” Felipe said. “Basically saved your life and caught a bunch of terrorists. Is not nothing.”

“There’ll be more than who had me,” Rob said, darkly. “They’re not even based around here, are they? They’ll be someone unimportant. The police will get nothing out of them.”

“Know a lot about them,” Felipe said, suspiciously.

“Came with the job, mate,” Rob muttered, laughing a little at the thought of it. There was no point lying about it anymore. Claire wouldn’t have told anyone what had happened, but he was pretty sure the terrorists weren’t going to let this stop them from telling the world the truth.

He wasn’t entirely sure what was funnier: that Claire and the rest of them were going to get what was coming to them at last, or that the terrorists had stopped him doing what they wanted him to do to make Claire do it instead.

“Do Frankie and Felix know?” Rob asked, quietly. He just wanted the go and see them now. He was going to have to sit with the police for he didn’t know how long but all he really wanted was to see his kids and make sure Lucy hadn’t run off with them in the middle of all this. It didn’t sound like this kind of thing _his_ Lucy would have done, but she wasn’t his Lucy anymore.

“I don’t know,” Felipe said. “I only found out about it this afternoon.”

“I need to see them.”

“After you have spoken to the police,” Felipe insisted. “And after you go to sleep, I think.”

He smiled weakly, hoping it would settle Rob.

“I’m not sleeping until I’ve seen them,” Rob muttered,

“Sure,” Felipe said, prodding him to make sure he stayed awake. In the distance, the wail of sirens could be heard. “This had better be them.”


	26. Not Such A Good Morning

“And what were you doing at the studios anyway?” the police officer asked whilst a medic was trying to clean up Rob’s face better than Felipe had.

Rob rolled his eyes. How many times were they going to go through this useless information?

“I had something I wanted to say,” Rob said, bitterly. “About what had happened before. The attack on the news centre.”

He looked up at the policeman, wondering if he would be able to figure out what Rob was doing there without having to spell it out to him.

“Your boss didn’t seem to know anything about it,” the police officer said.

“My ex-boss,” Rob said. “I don’t work for them anymore.”

“That’s not what they seem to think,” the police officer said.

“I don’t give a shit what they think,” Rob snapped. “I’m not the fucking bad guy here. Why are you asking me all these questions? I’ve told you what I know, now why can’t I go home and see my kids?”

“Mr Smedley,” the police officer said in a tone that probably _was_ supposed to come across as patronizing. “This is a matter of national security. There are more people who would like to speak to you down at the station, but right now we’re just asking what we need to ask to find the people who took you.”

“Have told you what you need to know,” Felipe said. “Have told you where they are, what they looked like. Rob knows nothing more. Has told you this. If you were trying to find them you would be gone by now. Let him go and see his kids.”

It was getting late, and Felipe had already had to phone Fernando to see if he would take Felipinho into school for him, because he had no idea what time he was supposed to finish talking to these idiots. They didn’t seem to care that people had actual lives to deal with.

“We have to deal with things with the correct procedures,” the police officer explained as if they were children. “And I’m afraid Mr Smedley is going to have to answer a few more questions before he’s going anywhere.”  


“Where’s Papa?” Felipinho asked as Fernando took him inside. “Why isn’t he back yet?”

“Is just a little busy,” Fernando said, sitting the child down on the sofa. He needed feeding, cleaning, then taking to school. Fernando could do that…

“Doing what?” Felipinho asked, getting up and following Fernando into the kitchen.

Fernando bit his lip, pretending to not have heard. He wasn’t sure how much Felipe would want his son knowing. It wasn’t as if what he had done was anything _bad_ , but telling Felipinho the truth meant admitting his best friend’s father had been kidnapped by terrorists, and that seemed to be a conversation Felipe didn’t want his son to have.

“I have those ones,” Felipinho said, helpfully pointing out his cereal when Fernando opened the cupboard doors.

“Right,” Fernando said, slowly, taking the cereal out of the cupboard and pouring a little too much into a bowl.

“What’s Papa doing?” Felipinho asked, not bothering to point out that he wasn’t usually allowed that many.

“He’s… he is helping the police with some things,” Fernando said, slowly, sitting Felipinho down with his breakfast. Feeding done. Just cleaning and taking to school. This wouldn’t be so bad.

“What things?” Felipinho asked, his curiosity only growing. “What do the police want? Has he done something naughty?”

It wouldn’t surprise him. His papa was the bad guy, after all. Maybe the police had finally found out he was a nasty papa and were going to take him away. Felipinho wasn’t sure he liked that. Yeah, he was nasty, but he was the only papa he had, and if Felipinho didn’t have his papa, then what was he going to do? Fernando couldn’t look after him. Fernando didn’t even know which cereal was his.

“No, he hasn’t done anything naughty,” Fernando said, gently. “Nothing bad. He’s helping the police find some bad guys that were in his taxi last night.”

“Is he hurt?”

“No, he isn’t hurt, Felipinho,” Fernando promised. “Will be right there when you get out of school this afternoon. He just needs to finish talking to the police.”

“Does this mean Papa is the good guy?” Felipinho asked.

“What? Yes, of course he is,” Fernando said, watching Felipinho dig his spoon into the sugar coated cereal. “Why would he not be?”

“He’s nasty,” Felipinho said, bitterly. “He wanted to stop me being friends with Frankie.”

Fernando sighed. “Felipinho, your papa isn’t nasty. Sometimes grown ups have to do things that are not so good so that things that are even worse doesn’t happen, yeah? Are not trying to be nasty to make you upset. Have to be so that you are safe, yes?”

Felipinho rolled his eyes, but nodded anyway. Fernando was a grown up. He had to say things like that.

“Eat that, then we’ll go brush your teeth, yeah?”

 

“Look,” Rob said, looking at the blank faces that stared back at him from across the table. “I’m exhausted. I’ve just spent I don’t know how long beaten and locked up. Can this not wait until later?”

“Afraid not,” one of the men said. “The sooner you answer our questions, Mr Smedley, the sooner you can go.”

Rob fell back in his chair in disbelief. He wanted to cry, but he doubted that would get him anywhere.

“Please,” he said, his voice quiet to stop himself bursting into tears. “I don’t know anything else. I told you what I told the police. I didn’t see their faces, I didn’t recognise the voices, and I don’t know what they wanted. Why don’t you ask Williams? They seem to have all the answers here.”

“I was under the impression you worked for Williams,” the man said. “So I’m asking you.”

“I don’t work for them anymore,” Rob said.

“That’s not what their records say.”

“I was fired,” Rob said.

“That’s not what their records say,” the man said again.

Of course it wasn’t. He wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out he was still getting paid by them, Claire making it easy for everyone when he “eventually” decided to come back to the company.

“I don’t know what they wanted,” Rob said again. He still didn’t know why he was defending them. This was all going to come out eventually. Even if they did find the people who had kidnapped him, he was sure the terrorists would find someone else to tell the world what Williams had done, and he had no business in keeping the company’s lies covered. “Claire will know,” he said, hating himself more and more the more he spoke. “Claire Williams.”

“We are speaking to Miss Williams concurrently,” the security agent said.

“Then you don’t need to be speaking to me,” Rob said. “There’s nothing I know that she don’t.”

This was a useless waste of time and probably against his rights.

“Can I go now?” he asked, hopefully when nobody said anything for a couple of seconds.

“Just a couple more questions, Mr Smedley…”

 

Frankie wasn’t waiting on the playground when Felipinho arrived with Fernando, but that was ok. It was what he expected now. He found Alex again and this time the other boy didn’t complain when Felipinho suggested they play tig, even if it was only until Alex’s other friends showed up. Fernando watched him from across the playground, pretending not to notice the mothers glancing over in his direction and smiling.

Felipinho was fine, even when Alex’s other friends came and the other boy stopped playing with him. He waited with Fernando, chatting about something too fast for Fernando to be able to hear him, then skipped off to go inside when the teachers opened the door, almost forgetting his lunch box in the process.

The happiness disappeared as soon as he was inside. Frankie wasn’t there.

“Mr Ricciardo?” Felipinho called, uncertainly, calling over the teacher from where he was helping Jessica hang up her coat.

“Yeah?”

“Where’s Frankie?”

The teacher sighed and glanced back into the empty question before crouching down in front of Felipinho.

“Frankie isn’t coming to school today,” he said, gently.

“He’s poorly?” Felipinho asked. This was just what he needed. At least Frankie had already had chicken pox, so he probably wasn’t going to be off school for very long.

“No,” Mr Ricciardo said. “No, Frankie’s mummy is taking him to a different school from now on.”

“What?” That couldn’t be right. He couldn’t go to another school. This was the only one anywhere near here, and it wasn’t as if he was moving away, because Frankie’s papa had promised he wasn’t going to let that happen.

“I’m sorry,” Mr Ricciardo said, gently, watching the tears swell in the child’s eyes.

“You must have gotten it wrong,” Felipinho said. “He has to stay at this school.”

“Frankie’s mummy thinks it’s best if he doesn’t,” Mr Ricciardo said.

“Frankie’s mummy’s nasty,” Felipinho snapped. “You can’t let her take him away. It’s not fair.”

“Felipinho, we can’t do anything.”

“Nobody can do anything because you’re all idiots,” Felipinho snapped, pushing Mr Ricciardo away and racing into the boys toilets.

Dan sighed and glanced over to the class teacher, not sure if this was really his job, but she just nodded and Dan followed Felipinho into the toilets.


	27. Toilet Tantrums

Felipe felt as if he’d only just closed his eyes when the phone started ringing. The school.

 

Dan was sat on the floor in the boy’s toilets when Felipe was shown in by a member of reception staff who did not look at all impressed with the situation. Felipe hadn’t been told much, just that there was a problem and his son wouldn’t come out from the toilets.

“What’s going on?” Felipe asked.

“He won’t come out,” Dan said, weakly.

“Yes, I guessed that,” Felipe said, trying not to bite. He was tired and this was the last thing he needed after the night he had had. “Why not?”

“Frankie Smedley isn’t going to be returning to school,” Dan said, quietly.

“He _is_ coming back,” Felipinho shouted through the door. “His papa is going to rescue him at the last moment like in the films. He is coming back, and I’m not coming out until he gets here.”

Felipe rolled his eyes. They’d called him into the school for this. Told him it was an emergency. He was pretty sure they should have been able to deal with a stroppy five year old locked in a toilet. He came past Dan, knocking quickly on the door.

“Come on, Felipinho. Come out.”

“I’m not coming out until Frankie gets here,” Felipinho said again.

“Frankie is gone,” Felipe said. “Remember, you are going to write letters to him. You cannot do that from inside the toilet, can you?”

“I don’t _want_ to write letters to him,” Felipinho said. “I want him here with me. It’s not fair. He’s my best friend and his mummy’s a meanie and you can’t let him go with her.”

“Felipinho, we do not have a choice,” Felipe said. “Now you come out here right now or you are not going to be allowed to write any letters.”

“Hey,” Dan said, jumping up. “Don’t you think that’s a little harsh?”

“Do not tell me how to take care of my child,” Felipe snapped. “I have spent my night saving a murderer from a group of terrorists. I am tired and I want to go to bed and if Felipinho is not going to come out then I am going.”

“I don’t want you here,” Felipinho called. “You don’t care anyway. You wanted Frankie to go away, because you’re a meanie too.”

“Fine,” Felipe said. “Will leave you here, then?”

“Go away.”

Felipe groaned, then turned on his heel and left. Dan was about to hurry after him, because if anyone was going to get Felipinho out of the cubical without Frankie being present it was going to be Felipe, but a small sob stopped him.

“Felipinho?” Dan asked, uncertainly, as he spun back around. “Are you ok?”

“I want mummy.”

Through the gap beneath the door, Dan could see he was sat on the grimy bathroom floor, and Dan sat back down beside him, taking hold of Felipinho’s hand through the gap and giving it a gentle squeeze.

“But I can’t have mummy, because mummy’s gone,” Felipinho said, quietly. “And then Grandma and Grandpa were gone. And now Frankie’s gone. And soon Papa will be gone as well. And then it will be just me. I don’t want it to be just me, Mr Ricciardo.”

Dan leaned back against the door, his hand still holding Felipinho’s gently. Sebastian thought he had it easy, because he didn’t have to explain the war to little kids, but he’d like to see his friend in this situation and know how to handle it.

“Your Papa isn’t going anywhere,” Dan said, gently. “He would never leave you on your own. And your mummy is still with you, isn’t she? She might not be here, but she’s in heaven and she’s looking after you, Felipinho. You’re not going to be alone ever.”

There was only silence from the other side of the door. Dan couldn’t even tell if Felipinho was listening, the only sign that he was still awake the shaking of his hand. After a couple of seconds of sitting in silence, Felipinho pulled his hand away from Dan’s and stood, opening the door.

Dan jumped up, pulling a handful of toilet roll from the dispenser to wipe Felipinho’s eyes with.

“Mummy wouldn’t want me to be a cry baby,” Felipinho said, quietly, letting his teacher wipe his face.

“You’re not being a cry baby,” Dan said. “I think your mummy knows why you are sad. And, I think, if your mummy was here, she would give you a great big hug, and tell you it’s ok to be sad. But her and your papa are there to make you happy. And now it’s just your papa. So shall we see if we can find him, and then I’m sure he’ll give you that great big hug?”

Felipinho nodded, wiping his eyes on the back of his hand before Dan gave him the tissue. Dan smiled down at him.

“Come on.”

“Mr Ricciardo?”

“Yeah?” Dan asked, leading Felipinho out of the toilets

“Can I have a hug?” Felipinho asked, quietly.

Dan stopped, Felipinho almost crashing into him. He wasn’t entirely sure if he was allowed or not, but he didn’t see anything wrong with it.

“Yeah,” he said, gently, crouching down so Felipinho could hug him. “Let’s go and find papa, hey?”  


Rob knew he should go to bed and go to sleep, but that could wait. Almost as soon as he was dropped off at his house by the moronic security agents, he was back out of the door. His car was still at the studios, so he was going to have to walk to Lucy’s. He would run, but he didn’t think he had the energy for that and collapsing in a heap at her front door didn’t sound like fun to him.

He knocked quickly at first, waiting a couple of moments because maybe Lucy would be reasonable after his ordeal. It wasn’t that hard to imagine. There had to be some of _his_ Lucy left in her.

When she didn’t answer, he went back to slamming his fist against the door, making the usual show for all the neighbours.

“Lucy! I want to see the boys.”

“They left.”

Rob spun around, his fist still raised, to face the next door neighbour, who was leaning over the fence to speak to him. The neighbour jumped back and Rob lowered his hand.

“What?”

“They left last night,” the neighbour said. “Don’t look at me like that. I wasn’t being nosey. I was tucked up in bed, but your kids could wake a coma patient, I swear.”

“Where did they go?”

“How should I know?” the neighbour said. “They just packed up and left. Thought you would have known about that.”

“Of course I didn’t know about that,” Rob cried. His hands went straight for his pockets in search of his phone, but that had been taken away from him when the terrorists took him. What he did find were his keys.

“You can’t just go in there,” the neighbour said when Rob shoved the key in the lock. “You know she’ll get angry if you just go in there.”

“I have been kidnapped by terrorists, integrated by security agents, and thrown over a fucking fence by a taxi driver,” Rob snarled. “Do you think I really give a shit right now?”

He pushed against the door with his shoulder, throwing it open.

“Lucy?”

The lights were off in the house, but that was normal. Lucy and John would be at work, Rob told himself, and the kids at school. That explained why the house was empty. The neighbour had just gotten the wrong end of the stick. They had not left.

“Lucy?” Rob called again, even though it was clear she wasn’t in. She would be at work, where she spent every day. There was nothing to worry about.

Rob headed up the stairs. All their things would still be there and that would prove that he had nothing to worry about.

But there things weren’t still there. The bed clothes were gone from both of the boy’s beds. Their clothes were gone from their draws. They were gone.

“I told you they left,” the neighbour said, stood uselessly in the hallway when Rob hurried back down the stairs. Rob ignored them, heading to the landline Lucy had kept in the kitchen. A list of numbers was pinned next to it, but Rob knew the one he wanted by heart anyway.

Lucy didn’t answer. That wasn’t exactly unexpected.

The next number he tried was answered on the second ring.

“Lucy?” Mark sounded confused.

“Where the fuck are my kids?”

That probably hadn’t cleared the confusion.


	28. Life's Not Fair

“You said they couldn’t leave the country until after that meeting,” Rob said, glaring at Mark.

Mark sat behind his desk, shuffling papers about so he didn’t have to look at his friend, but Rob’s glare didn’t leave him.

“Where are they?”

“I don’t know,” Mark said, holding out his hands. “What do you want me to say, Rob? I don’t know. She couldn’t leave the country, no, but circumstances seem to have changed, mate.”

“Changed?”

“They managed to overturn the decision,” Mark tried to explain. “I don’t know how, but they did.”

“So they’re free to go wherever he wants to take them?” Rob asked.

Mark nodded. “I tried to tell you yesterday. We might have been able to do something. But you weren’t answering your bloody phone and I can’t exactly do things on your behalf without permission, so I had to let them go.”

Rob just stared at him. There had to have been some kind of mistake, or this was a joke, or something.

“She can’t have left,” Rob said, quietly. She couldn’t have left. Lucy wouldn’t do that to him. She must have known what was going on. If Felipe Massa had seen the news then she must have. She wouldn’t have just left when he was in that kind of situation. She would have at least waited until it was over. Let the kids say goodbye. His Lucy would not have left.

“I’m sorry,” Mark said. “You can try to find them but I don’t know how much good that’s going to be.”

“What about work?” Rob asked. Lucy wouldn’t just have given that up. She cared more about her job than she did her kids some days and she wouldn’t have moved away from that, even to spite him.

Mark shrugged. “I haven’t spoken to them.”

“I’m going over there now,” Rob said, standing. The sudden movement made his head dizzy and he fell back down into the chair, Mark rushing over to him.

“I don’t think you’re going anywhere, mate,” the Australian said. “Except to bed.”

Rob shrugged his friend away when Mark tried to help him stand. “I need to find my kids, Mark. I can sleep when I’m dead.”

“And you’ll be dead by the time you find them, if you keep acting like this,” Mark said, stepping back to let Rob stand by himself, but staying close in case Rob collapsed or something. “Go to bed. I will phone you if anything happens.”

“I don’t have a phone,” Rob mumbled, trying to focus on staying up right. “I am _fine_ , Mark.”

“You are not,” Mark laughed. “Go to bed and I’ll come round if anything happens, alright? I’ll go to Lucy’s work, if you want. Find out what’s what there. But I ain’t letting you, mate.”

“Fine,” Rob snapped, leading Mark out of his own office and down onto the street.

“Where’s your car?”

“Channel Six studios,” Rob said. He should probably go and pick that up. No doubt it had a load of tickets he was going to have to pay and the terrorists really hadn’t thought about the rest of his life when they’d kidnapped him, had they?

“Why is it there?”

“I was going to tell them, Mark,” Rob said. “I was going to do everything that they wanted me to do and they fucking kidnapped me before I could do it. I was going to get us all out of this mess, like they wanted me to, and they stopped it.”

“That would have just caused more of a mess, mate,” Mark said, gently. “Come on, I’ll drive you back.”

Rob reluctantly got into the passenger seat of Mark’s car, glaring at nothing out of the window.

 

He didn’t need this today. Why couldn’t he just have one day where everything went how it was supposed to?

Felipinho was still crying, and no amount of tissues from his teacher was going to stop him. At least they were out of the toilets now, sat in an empty dinner room on stools much too short for Felipinho’s teacher to be sitting on with a jug of water between the three of them.

“I know you’re going to miss Frankie,” Felipe said, trying to be gentle. “But you have new friends now. What about Alex?”

“Alex only wants four friends,” Felipinho said, sadly. “I want Frankie.”

Felipe nodded as if this were a perfectly reasonable answer and poured himself a cup of water. The teacher would know what to say next. It was his job.

Dan said nothing, looking between Felipinho and his father and waiting for someone to speak.

“Why couldn’t he stay here?” Felipinho asked. “He could live with his Papa, couldn’t he?”

“His mummy wants him to live with her,” Dan said when Felipe didn’t answer.

“Well he wants to live here,” Felipinho said. “Why doesn’t anybody care what we want? It’s not fair.”

“Life is not fair,” Felipe said.

Dan sighed. It was hardly surprising Felipinho was like this.

“Sometimes this is just the way things are, Felipinho,” he said gently. “But his mummy thinks he’ll be happier where he is now.”

“But he was happy _here_ ,” Felipinho whined.

“I know,” Dan said, softly. “But there’s nothing we can do now, mate, is there? You can still be friends with him, can’t you? Didn’t your papa say you could write letters?”

“I don’t want to write letters.

“Sometimes we cannot do what we want,” Felipe said. He turned to Dan. “I need to go. Are you going to keep him here or would you like me to take him home.”

“I want to go home and I’m not coming to school until Frankie gets back.”

“I think it might be best if he stay in school,” Dan said. “You look like you could do with a sleep.”

“Thanks.”

“I didn’t mean it nastily. I just…” Dan sighed, giving up. Let the parent think what he wanted to think. Dan had bigger problems to deal with.

“I don’t want to stay here,” Felipinho said, grabbing onto his father’s hand as he stood to leave. “Everyone will laugh at me.”

“We’ll do a special day,” Dan promised, trying to detach the child from his father’s arm. “Just you and me. How does that sound?”

Felipinho sighed and folded his arms. Now Mr Ricciardo wasn’t going to be on his side either. They should have run away to the East when they had the chance. If he had just found the bus before Frankie had decided they needed to go to the help lady, none of this would have happened.

“Alright,” he mumbled. Being at school with Mr Ricciardo was probably better than being at home with Papa when he was being a grumpy pants.

Felipe sighed, relieved a little, and ran a hand through his hair. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” Dan said, smiling. “We can put him in an afterschool club tonight, if it would help.”

“I don’t need help,” Felipe insisted. “I’ll be here at quarter past three to pick him up. Like I always am.”

“Alright then,” Dan said, slowly, taking hold of Felipinho’s hand. “Shall we start with your reading book, hey? We haven’t done that for a while.”


	29. Unwanted Conversations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait. :S

When Rob woke up, his head felt like it was going to collapse. How was it possible he had woken up feeling even more dead than he had gone to sleep? He lay for a couple of moments with his eyes screwed up and his hands on his head, but the pain wasn’t getting any better. He reached for his phone on the bedside table, realised it wasn’t there, and forced himself to get up.

The alarm clock said he’d slept for a good four and a half hours – longer than he usually slept in one go – so it wasn’t the tiredness that was making his head pound. Groggily, Rob made his way into the kitchen, searching for pain killers and water.

What he found was Claire.

“Piss off,” he said, before his former boss – or was she still his boss? He wasn’t sure – could even speak.

Claire’s mouth snapped shut and she watched him from where she was sat at the small dining area cross the room to fill a glass with water.

“We were trying to get to you,” Claire said after Rob had gulped down the water with two small white tablets. “We were pretty sure they weren’t going to do anything but-.”

“Pretty sure?” Rob said. “Pretty sure? Claire, I was half dead before they even contacted you.”

“You look fine now,” Claire said.

“Shut up and piss off,” Rob snapped, leaning against the kitchen counter with his eyes closed, waiting for the pain killers to kick in. He should probably go to hospital. He didn’t know why he hadn’t been taken to hospital already.

“I sent Valtteri to speak to Lucy,” Claire said. “Like you told us to. We wanted to make sure she was aware of the situation.”

“You know she’s fucked off, don’t you,” Rob said, glancing over at Claire. There was no emotion on her face and Rob couldn’t tell if she actually did know or not. “Her and John have taken my kids and disappeared and I wasn’t there to stop them.”

“You thought they’d gone before…” Claire began.

“They’re gone,” Rob snapped. “They are not here. Nobody knows where they are. I’m probably never going to see my kids again and it’s all because of you.”

“I don’t see how that is my fault, Rob.”

“Of course you don’t,” Rob spat. “I would have been here to stop them if it wasn’t for you lot.”

“Do you think you would have been able to stop them, Rob? Really?” Claire asked. “I know Lucy, and I know if she had her heart set on something, she wouldn’t be dissuaded by you or anybody else. Don’t you think it’s a good thing? Whilst all this is going on, isn’t it better to keep the kids out of the way, so they don’t get hurt?”

“They are gone, Claire,” Rob said, and he didn’t know how much simpler he could put it. “I am never going to see my children again.”

 

_It was everywhere. All over the news, the papers, and Felipe couldn’t ignore it. He’d tried – been an idiot and left Raffaela’s parents and Fernando to deal with Felipinho and everything else, and part of him knew that wasn’t fair on him. Part of him knew it should be him sorting out all this mess. But part of him was gone. Part of him was gone and it wasn’t coming back. He couldn’t remember how to function, and no amount of needing to help with… with everything was going to make him remember._

_“You are going to need to explain to him,” Fernando said, watching Felipinho eat breakfast._

_“Know this,” Felipe said. How was he supposed to explain this, though? A bunch of people we don’t even know decided to kill your mummy because she was doing her job._

_“Her parents are leaving tomorrow,” Fernando said. “I could ask them to stay a little longer, but they just wanted a fresh start.”_

_“Can look after myself,” Felipe mumbled._

_“I don’t think that’s true,” Fernando said. “Jenson is coming round later. Said he would help too.”_

_“Do not think it is such a good idea for half of the office to come and take it in turns playing Felipe-watch,” Felipe muttered. “Felipinho will know something is wrong.”_

_“Knows something is wrong already,” Fernando said._

_Felipe couldn’t deny that. How quiet Felipinho had been since it had happened. He didn’t think he’d spent more than five minutes alone in a room with his son before Felipinho had decided to go somewhere else._

_“What am I supposed to do?” Felipe mumbled. He was sure there was part of him that knew the answer to that. There was part of him that knew how to carry on and do everything that Felipinho needed him to do and there was a part of him that knew how to do more than exist. But he was pretty sure that that part had been taken too._

_“You keep going,” Fernando said. “Maybe it would be best to move away, with her parents. Know they would love to have you both.”_

_“Would love to have Felipinho,” Felipe said. He was surprised they’d even had the decency to try to hide the child-snatching attempt behind trying to help him. They were the kind of people who would just come out and say that they were trying to take his son._

_“Would love to have you both,” Fernando said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at Felipe’s conspiracy theories. “Just want to help. We all do.”_

_“Can look after myself,” Felipe said again. “Am fine. Really.”_

_He looked up at Fernando, and it was clear the Spaniard didn’t believe any of it, but he said nothing. Felipe didn’t let the relief show on his face. He didn’t think he had the energy to fight him. He barely had the energy to stay awake._

_“Are going to need to speak to him,” Fernando said again, nodding over to where Felipinho was staring blankly at his spoon, lost in his own little world._

_“Later,” Felipe said. When he’d figure out a way of explaining this, he’s speak to Felipinho. When things started to make sense again._

Rob was too exhausted for visitors, but when he saw it was Mark at the door, he let the Australian in, making a mental vow that, if he didn’t have anything on where Frankie and Felix were, he would be straight back out of the door in an instant.

The grimace on Mark’s face meant he barely made it past the hall.

“What?”

“I went to her work, like I told you I would,” Mark said.

“And?”

Mark sighed, as if the couple more seconds would give him a way of saying what he had to without Rob going berserk.

“There’s nothing,” he said.

“What?” Rob asked, again, hoping he had misunderstood.

“Apparently they’d been planning the move for a while,” Mark said, holding up his hands. “And no, I didn’t know. But she’s been moving things over to her second in command for a couple of months now. There’s nothing there about where she’s gone. I’m sorry.”

Rob shook his head, turning away from Mark and heading into the kitchen. He wasn’t listening to it. He couldn’t. Mark had to be lying or pulling his leg or something. Lucy cared way too much about that job. She always had. There was no way anybody – not even someone as manipulative as John – could have gotten her to leave it all behind.

“I’m sorry, mate,” Mark said, following Rob into the kitchen.

“No,” Rob said. “I’m going there. I’m finding out what’s gone on.”

“It’s no use,” Mark said. “There’s nothing there anymore. She’s gone.”

“Then what do I do?” Rob asked. Because he didn’t know anymore. There had to be a way to get the kids back. And if Mark wasn’t going to help him do that, he’d find a lawyer who would.

“We’ll figure something out,” Mark said. “A private investigator or something. We’ll figure something out.”

 

“We need to talk,” Dan said, showing Felipe into the empty classroom.

Sebastian kept going on about how easy he had things but, looking back over the day he’d just had, Dan had to disagree with him. And things didn’t end there. He didn’t have any control over this. He’d just pointed out the problems and everyone else had taken over. Really, he didn’t even have to be there, but Felipinho had asked him to stay and, with everything that had been going on, Dan couldn’t really say no.

“What’s going on?” Felipe asked, looking at the huddle of teachers that were sat around a table with Felipinho.

“We need to discuss Felipinho’s care,” the class teacher said. “Mr Ricciardo and Felipinho have been chatting, and a few issues were brought up. Well, more than a few.”

“I can look after Felipinho fine,” Felipe said, not sitting down even when Dan pulled out a chair for him. “What kind of issues.”

“Well, for a start there’s Felipinho’s punctuality,” the class teacher said. “And then some of the things he’s said. Sleeping on a chair at your place of work?”

“That is just temporary,” Felipe said. “Am changing jobs at the end of the week.”

“We know your situation is difficult,” the class teacher said, before sighing. “I really think it might be best if you sit down, Mr Massa.”

“I do not care what you think is best,” Felipe said. “Am not going to sit there and let you tell me I cannot look after my child. Come on, Felipinho.”

“Mr Massa, these issues are going to need to be addressed at some point,” the head teacher, sat beside the class teacher, said. “Mr Ricciardo has done his best to highlight some of the problems but it isn’t enough. If the issues aren’t addressed soon, we will have no choice but to get social services involved.”

“Get social services involves,” Felipe said, holding out his hand for Felipinho. “Am looking after my son just fine, and they will see that. Come on Felipinho.”

Felipinho looked between his teachers, but the only one that was looking at him was Dan.

“Come _on_ , Felipinho.”

“Go on,” Dan said, quietly, noticing the child looking up at him.

Felipinho nodded, silently, then slid past his teacher to take his father’s hand. Felipe ignored the shaking heads and shuffling chairs, taking Felipinho’s lunch box in his free hand and marching out of the classroom.

Dan watched them go, silently, then looked back to the other teachers. They weren’t _doing_ anything. They were just going to sit there and let Felipe and Felipinho march into a disaster.

Without thinking he jogged out of the classroom after Felipe, dragging the parent to a halt.

“Am not going back in there,” Felipe snapped.

“I’m not asking you to,” Dan said. “I just… I know what Felipinho is going through.”

“What?”

“Well, I kind of… I kind of do,” Dan said. He gulped, glancing back to see if anybody was following him, but none of the others seemed to care. “I know things are hard for you. And you must have heard this a million times before, but if you ever need any help, I’m here. But you’ll be too proud to take it. I _know_. I’ve been there. Or where Felipinho is. Can we… can we sit down?”

Felipe considered Dan for a couple of seconds, then nodded, curiousity getting the better of him. He followed the teacher over to one of the benches.

“When I was a kid my dad died,” Dan admitted. “Mum thought she could keep going by herself, but it ain’t easy. And I can’t say I really helped much. People tried to help her but she was too proud for any of that, and things just got worse. I was happy, yeah, but I weren’t, if you get what I mean? You probably don’t. It’s a bit confusing. Because she was trying her best and everything, but it just wasn’t good enough. And it was confusing, yeah. Because part of me was sad because, you know, it’s your mum and you want her to be happy and everything. Btu then I was annoyed because she could make herself happy and she wasn’t. And then I had school and friends and my own problems and your kid’s problems become your problems, I guess, so I was just making things worse, and I know what Felipinho’s going through, and I’m just here to make things better for him. If you let me.”

“Is not the same,” Felipe said. “Is different. Am fine, really.”

“And that’s what she said,” Dan said. “Please. Just try something. Me or some mates or the school. Because we ain’t against you when we say there are some issues. They ain’t issues with you. We can help, if you let us. If not, then we have to get someone who doesn’t need you to let them. And that’s not a threat. That’s just what we’ve got to do.”

“They will come and see that everything is fine,” Felipe said.

“But they won’t,” Dan said. Why couldn’t he just see? All they were trying to do was help and make sure they were both ok, and why did he have to be so stubborn. “Look, just take my number. I want to help. Not as some teacher, but as someone who knows what Felipinho is going through. Please.”

Felipe rolled his eyes. “Alright,” he said, hoping that would get Dan to leave him alone.

The Australian beamed, taking a pen from his pocket to write down his number. Maybe, just maybe, they were getting somewhere.


	30. Comforting Conversations

Felipinho knew he was in trouble. Felipe hadn’t spoken to him since he’d gotten in the car, and it wasn’t as if Felipinho had tried to speak to him either, but normally his father would try to get him to tell him about the school day and today he didn’t seem to even notice that Felipinho was there. It was a little scary.

There was no stealing peppers off of the chopping board at dinner. Felipe was on autopilot, preparing the food and leaving it in front of Felipinho without saying a word. And then he knew he was in really big trouble.

“Papa?”

“Hmmm?”

“Sorry.”

“Sorry?” Felipe asked, confused

Felipinho nodded. He figured that might make things a little better, but maybe his father wanted more than that today. He didn’t know.

“What are you sorry for?” Felipe asked, dragging a chair over to sit beside Felipinho at the table.

Felipinho shrugged. He didn’t really know. He didn’t think it was going to be this hard. “For… for making you have to come into school. And for making you angry. I didn’t mean to.”

“You didn’t make me angry, Felipinho,” Felipe said, gently. “I promise, it wasn’t you.”

“Then what’s wrong?” Felipinho asked. There was definitely something wrong, and if it wasn’t because of him, then it must have been something else. Maybe he could help.

Felipe sighed, shutting his eyes. It was time to start being honest – he knew that – but how was he supposed to explain that to a five year old.

“There are lots of things that are wrong,” he said, quietly.

“And how do we make them better?” Felipinho asked. There had to be a way to make things better, and his papa would know them. He was a grown up, after all.

“You do not have to do anything,” Felipe said. “They are grown up problems, and we will sort them out.”

“But maybe I can help,” Felipinho said. “You are sad, Papa.”

Of course he was sad. Felipe didn’t really think that needed pointing out. Besides the obvious, he was now being told he couldn’t look after his own child and he was… he was beginning to think they might be right.

“Yeah,” Felipe said, gently. “But that doesn’t matter. I will be happy again soon.”

“How?” Felipinho asked, suspiciously.

“Because,” Felipe said slowly. “I do not have to work nights anymore, do I? I do not have to go to work and you can sleep in your own bed again from now on.”

“Really?” Felipinho asked, excitedly.

“Yep,” Felipe said, glad that had cheered him up a little.

“Forever?” Felipinho asked. “Not just for a little while.”

“Forever,” Felipe promised. “Because I am working in the day time now, aren’t I? And that will be good, won’t it? And soon, I am going to get lots of money from Frankie’s papa’s work. And then we are going to go and live somewhere nicer than this.”

“Can we go and live near Frankie?” Felipinho asked, suddenly realising how much better everything was about to be.

“I don’t know about that,” Felipe said. “But we will live someone better. And you are going to write him lots of letters and draw pictures aren’t you.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Felipinho mumbled, the excitement disappearing in an instant. He guessed it would be nice to live somewhere a little nicer than this, but it would be even better to live near Frankie.

“Hey,” Felipe said. “Why don’t you eat that up, and then we’ll do some painting, yeah?”

“Painting?” Felipinho asked. They hadn’t done painting in _ages_.

“Yeah,” Felipe said, laughing at the surprise on his son’s face. “We’ll paint a picture for Frankie, yeah, and we need a new one to put on the fridge.”

“I want to paint a picture for Mr Ricciardo too,” Felipinho said, quickly.

“For?”

“Mr Ricciardo,” Felipinho repeated. “I was going to do one at school but I wanted it to be a surprise. Can I?”

“Eat your dinner first,” Felipe said. “Then you can paint whatever you want.”

 

“You look like shit,” Sebastian said when Dan returned home from work.

“Thanks,” Dan muttered, dumping his things on the sofa before throwing himself down beside them. What good was all this anyway? He couldn’t help any of them and he didn’t know why he even bothered trying.

“What’s the matter?” Sebastian asked, stopping what he was doing to come over. He shifted Dan’s things out of the way to sit down beside him.

“It’s nothing,” Dan said, shrugging it off and putting a smile back on his face. “What’s for dinner?”

“No,” Sebastian said, pushing Dan back down into the sofa when he tried to get up. “What is the matter?”

“It’s really nothing, mate,” Dan said, standing again. “Are you cooking today or am I?”

“Nobody is cooking until I know what is wrong,” Sebastian said, following Dan around the flat. He was going to have to answer eventually. Dan always gave in. It was why Sebastian liked him so much.

“It’s just work,” Dan said, rolling his eyes at the unimpressed noise Sebastian gave him. “I ain’t getting into it. It doesn’t matter.”

“Does,” Sebastian said, cornering Dan in the kitchen. “Tell me.”

Dan went to argue, but he knew Sebastian wasn’t going to let this one go, and he was just going to give in eventually, so why hold back?

“Remember that kid I was telling you about?” he asked, kicking his feet against the kitchen floor.

“The one whose mother is dead?” Sebastian asked, stepping back now he was getting some answers.

“Yeah,” Dan said. “His… he’s going through a shit time. And his dad’s going through a shit time. And we’re trying to help them, but his dad won’t listen.”

“Is that it?” Sebastian asked. He was expecting something more. Dan was usually the most cheerful person in the room, any room, and Sebastian had thought it would take more to bring him down to this kind of mood.

Dan shook his head, but he didn’t have the words to explain. Sebastian didn’t know about his father. _Nobody_ had known about his father, which was why it was so annoying that Felipinho’s father probably wasn’t even going to listen to him. He didn’t realise how important it was.

“I’m just trying to help them, Seb,” Dan muttered, brushing past his friend.

“And he won’t listen,” Sebastian finished. “Forget about it, Dan. It is not your problem, is it? The kid will get the help he needs. If you are really concerned, you go to the support staff, yes?”

“I already have,” Dan said. He got the feeling that was going to cause a mess as well, but he couldn’t just leave Felipinho and his father as they were. Something needed to change, but Dan wasn’t sure this was the right way to do it.

“And what did they say?” Sebastian asked.

“They called in the parent, but he doesn’t want any help,” Dan said.

“Then there is nothing you can do,” Sebastian said. “Look, Dan…” He pulled his friend back onto the sofa, hoping he could make his friend see sense. “I know you care about the kids, but sometimes you have to take a step back, yeah? There is nothing else you can do and if they don’t want your help, you cannot force your help on them, can you?”

“I guess not,” Dan said. His friend was right, and he knew it. But it wouldn’t be that easy. Not whilst he was the one having to look after Felipinho four days a week and he was the one the child came to. He couldn’t just stop caring.

“Right then,” Sebastian said, patting Dan’s knee and standing. “What do you want for dinner?”

 

_“Hi, this is Lucy. I can’t get to the phone right now, so if you leave a message, I’ll call you back as soon as I get a chance. Thank you. Unless this is Rob. If this is Rob, just give up.”_

Rob sighed and almost laughed. He hadn’t sat and listened to her entire voice mail message since they had split up.

“I’m not going to give up, Lucy,” he said, quietly. He was sat in the front hall, on the floor with his back against the radiator. “You’ll probably change your number at some point. Or he’ll change your number for you. But I won’t give up. I still love you. I know you probably don’t think it, and you probably don’t care, but I do. You and the kids are everything to me. And I know sometimes it probably doesn’t feel like it, but it’s true. When… I guess you saw the news, didn’t you? Well, Claire said she told you what happened. I thought I was going to die. I probably should have died. It was just some damn good luck that I didn’t. And when all that was going on, all I could think about was how I was never going to see the kids again. I was never going to be able to say goodbye. I was never going to read them another bed time story, or scare away another monster from under their bed, or stick another picture on the fridge. I was never going to tell them how much I loved them. And…” He sighed. This wasn’t going to work. “You’re probably not even going to listen all the way through, are you? You’re probably not listening now. But I was scared, Lucy. I was scared I was never going to see them again.

“Do you remember how excited we were when we found out about Frankie? God, I think every person on the planet knew you were pregnant by the time he came along. We had all those plans, didn’t we? We were going to support him no matter what, but I was trying to get him into football. Do you remember? And the only thing that would put him to sleep was football chants? And that really annoyed you, but you secretly loved it. I know you did. Remember how excited we were to be parents back then? Because that’s never changed for me. Not really. I want to be their father, Lucy. And I _can_ be that person. You know I can.

“I know you don’t still love me. That’s not going to stop me loving you, but I’m going to have to accept that. But I’m still Frankie and Felix’s father. You can’t speak for them. If they still want to speak to me, you have to let them. Please, Lucy. This isn’t about you or me or John. This is about the boys. Please. Just… just think about it.”


	31. Getting Better

Today just felt like a positive day, Felipe felt as he got Felipinho ready for school a little earlier than usual. Felipinho was smiling as Felipe tied his shoe laces, chatting away about a dream he’d had. Maybe he’d forgotten that Frankie wouldn’t be in today, Felipe didn’t know, but he was definitely happy and Felipe wasn’t going to push him.

“And then we got in the rocket ship, but I couldn’t find my socks, so we had to wait until I found them until we could blast off and- Papa?”

“Hmmm?” Felipe asked, tugging at the bow and looking up.

Felipinho looked down at him, confused. “Why are we going so early?”

“Because I have to go to work, don’t I?” Felipe said, standing. “Am working in the day time now, aren’t I?”

“But where am I going to go?” Felipinho asked, confused. He couldn’t go to school early and stand on the playground by himself.

“The teachers are going to let you into the classroom early,” Felipe said, brushing Felipinho’s hair with him fingers. He’d sorted things out. And the teachers thought he couldn’t cope. What exactly was this then? He was coping. He was sorting things out and he was coping and they could just keep their noses out.

“Really?” Felipinho asked, rolling his eyes at his father’s fussing. “Do I have to sit with Mr Ricciardo again today?”

“I don’t think so,” Felipe said. “Do you want to?”

Felipinho shrugged. He didn’t know what he wanted. He didn’t know who else he was going to sit with if Frankie wasn’t going to be there.

“I need you to be a big boy today, ok?” Felipe said, kneeling in front of Felipinho again so that they were at the same height. “It is going to be different for you, I know. And I know Frankie not being there is going to make you a little sad. But no tears today, ok? Because I cannot come into your school when I am working, can I? I need you to be a big brave boy? Can you do that for me?”

Felipinho nodded, trying to stand as tall as he could. Felipe smiled at him, pressing a kiss to his cheek before standing.

“Go and get your lunch box then and we’ll get going.”

The smile stayed on his face until Felipinho had gone into the kitchen to get his lunch box. He sighed, rubbing the sleep out of his own eyes. They just had to keep going. He knew that if they just carried on with this good mood and didn’t slow down to think too much, they could get through today with no tears and tantrums. One good day was all Felipinho needed to see that life without Frankie wasn’t going to be that bad.

 

There was someone knocking on the door. Rob could hear them, but he couldn’t get himself out of bed. Whoever it was would go away. It wouldn’t be Lucy, and he didn’t want to see anyone else. They would get the hint eventually and leave.

Rob didn’t know how long he lay in bed with his eyes screwed shut, waiting for whoever it was at the door to go away, but it was longer than he wanted to. Longer than any sane person would stand outside someone’s house, banging on the front door.

He should probably see who it was. He should probably do a lot of things…

Maybe if he lay still enough, the bed would swallow him whole. He didn’t like the likelihood of that happening but, if there was a chance, it was worth a shot.

No, they weren’t going away.

More annoyed than he should have been, Rob swung himself out of bed, pulled on the shirt he’d discarded the night before and went to see whatever the idiot at his front door wanted.

“Valtteri?”

The Finn looked a little surprised that Rob had even answered, and stumbled back a little so he didn’t have to look so far up at him.

“Claire wants to see you,” he said once he had recovered.

“I don’t give a fuck what Claire wants,” Rob said, closing the door again.

He’d only just turned his back when the hammering resumed.

“What?” he snapped, pulling the door open so forcefully he hit himself in the foot.

“Claire wants to see you,” Valtteri said again. “It is important Rob, please.”

“If it was important, why didn’t she come herself?” Rob asked, but he knew the answer to that once. Claire wouldn’t even have gotten this much out of him if she’d come herself.

“She is busy at the office,” Valtteri said. “Is a lot more orders we are trying to negotiate, and with you not being in there is more work. Did not even want me to come, but I know how important this is.”

“I don’t- what do you mean she didn’t want you to come?”

“Claire was convinced you would not come,” Valtteri continued. “Said it was no use, but I know this is important, and I know you would like to know about it, so I made her let me come and speak to you. Please, Rob. It will only take an hour. Then you can get back to- get back to whatever you are doing.”

He tried to hide the mild disgust from his face, but it didn’t work. Rob looked awful, and he knew it, but he didn’t care anymore.

“Please, Rob,” Valtteri tried again.

“What’s it about?” Rob asked. He could feel himself falling for another one of Claire’s tricks, but Valtteri had got him curious now. What could she do other than ask him to come back to work? What was the worst that could happen?

“Have you heard the news?” Valtteri asked.

“Not this morning, no,” Rob said.

Valtteri sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. “You have not heard they are bringing in conscription?”

 

“I painted you a picture, Mr Ricciardo,” Felipinho said, showing his teacher proudly.

“Wow!” Dan said, glancing around the rest of the almost empty classroom to make sure there wasn’t anything else he needed to do before coming to sit next to Felipinho. “That’s pretty cool. What – er – what is it?”

“It’s a rainbow,” Felipinho said. “But I didn’t have any orange, so I had to make some. But I accidentally put in some blue and that’s why it looks all yucky.”

“I don’t think it looks yucky at all,” Dan said, smiling. “I’m going to put this on the desk to make sure it doesn’t get ruined, ok?”

He left the child smiling brightly as he went to put the picture in a safe place. Things had changed for the better since the day before, Dan thought. Maybe Felipe had spoken to him. Maybe he had done the right thing after all. That would make a pleasant change.

“Alright then,” Dan said, coming to sit down next to the child again now that the painting was safe. “Now, do you want to sit with me today, or do you think you’re going to be ok?”

He wasn’t supposed to be doing this, he knew, but if there had been even one adult there to support him when he was a kid, maybe things would have been better. Sebastian said he was too involved, and he was probably right, but… But he didn’t care.

“I think I’ll be ok,” Felipinho said, quietly. That meant Frankie very definitely wasn’t going to be coming in. He had been hoping Frankie’s mummy had made a mistake and she was going to let him come back to school. Because grown ups made mistakes sometimes, didn’t they?

He would be ok. He would have to be ok. He wasn’t allowed any crying at school when Papa was at work and he knew he could do it. He’d done it before.

“Yeah?” Dan said, hopefully. “Well, that’s good. How are you feeling today?”

“Pretty good,” Felipinho said, honestly. He was figuring out how he was going to do this all by himself. If anybody called him a name, he could tell Mr Ricciardo and then the teacher would sort it would for him. And then he didn’t need to speak to anybody else if they didn’t want to be friends with him, did he? Yeah, he felt pretty good about today. He knew how things were going to go and he could make a plan for it.

“Well, that’s good,” Dan said. “Did…” He really shouldn’t be asking this, he knew, but he wanted to know how well he’d done. If this good mood was going to last or if they really were going to have to bring social services in in a week’s time. “Did Papa have a little chat with you last night?”

He didn’t know what he was expecting, but he was hoping Felipe had said something that had put the smile on the little boys face.

“Uh huh,” Felipinho said. “When we did the painting.”

“Ah,” Dan said, nodding. “And what did he say?”

Felipinho sighed, struggling to remember.

“He said…”

 

_“You know when Mummy died?”_

_“Uh huh,” Felipinho looked up from where he was mixing the paint. This was important. Papa wouldn’t talk about Mummy unless it was important._

_“Well, when something like that happens, things change, don’t they?” his papa said. He was smiling, but his eyes didn’t look happy, and Felipinho didn’t like it. “Like when Grandma and Grandpa moved away.”_

_“Are we going to live with Grandma and Grandpa?” Felipinho asked. He wasn’t sure if he would like that. Grandma and Grandpa were nice to him, but sometimes they shouted at Papa when they thought he was sleeping._

_“No,” Felipe said. “No, I just mean… things changed for Grandma and Grandpa when Mummy died, that’s why they moved away.”_

_“Is that why we’re going to move away.”_

_“No,” Papa said, making Felipinho jump a little. “No, Felipinho, will you just listen and stop asking questions, please?”_

_Felipinho nodded, silently, watching Papa rub his head as if it hurt. Maybe it did hurt, and that was why he had to be quiet._

_His papa sighed and opened his eyes again. “When Mummy died, I tried to make it so that only a few things changed, didn’t I? I tried to make things normal for you. But… but sometimes you can’t help it when things changed, and they changed for me. In here. And in here.”_

_He tapped his head again, and then his chest. Felipinho watched his fingers fall away from his chest, then looked up at his father’s face again._

_“And because they changed, I have not been able to do other things like I am supposed to do them. But I am going to now. I promise. Things are going to change and they may not be nice at first, but it will make things better, ok?”_

 

“He said things were going to get better,” Felipinho said, eventually. “He said some things were going to change and that was going to make things better.”

Felipinho smiled brightly up at his teacher, proud he had remembered. Mr Ricciardo was smiling back at him, and that had to be a good thing.

“Right,” Dan said, nodding. Things were going to get better? Hopefully Felipe had figured out how he was going to make that happen.


	32. Good Days and Bad Days

“What’s this about conscription?”

Claire looked genuinely surprised to find Rob in her office when she returned from the bathroom. Rob let himself smirk at the expression. He could see why she did this kind of thing so often. She quickly recovered from the shock, though, sitting back behind the desk she had only left for five minutes.

“Valtteri actually managed to get you to come in then?” she said. She had to admit, she hadn’t thought he would actually care all that much. Rob seemed to like to do stupid things. Maybe he would see sense in throwing himself in a war he had no need to be in, but apparently not.

“When did this come into place?” Rob asked. He wasn’t going to let Claire take this conversation out of his hands. He wanted answers and she was going to give them.

“The announcement came this morning,” Claire said. “We’ve known it was going to happen for a couple of days now, but we’ve been waiting for it to be announced before we thought to bother you. Seeing as you don’t want to be part of the company anymore.”

Rob tutted, falling into the chair opposite Claire’s. He knew she knew he knew he was still officially working for the company, but he wasn’t going to bring it up. It was just what she wanted.

“And why did you think it was so important that I knew?”

“Don’t you want to know?” Claire asked.

“Claire.” She wouldn’t go out of her way to do something like this unless it had some impact on the company. Everything was about the company when it came to Claire. She was like her father.

Claire rolled her eyes. “We have been given the offer that some of our top personnel would be able to go without being on the conscription list. If you were to take your role on the team back, that would include you.”

“Ah, here it is,” Rob said, a fake smile on his face. “I was wondering how long it was going to take you for this conversation to be about getting me to work for this slime ball company, Rob.”

“We don’t create the demand, Rob,” Claire said.

“But you do,” Rob said. “You know you do and you pretend to apologise for it but you’re not even ashamed.”

“Rob,” Claire said. “I am not here to discuss Williams’ morals. I shouldn’t even be offering you you’re job back, after everything you have put the company through, but you’re good at your job, and I think you deserve a second chance. So, what do you say?”

“No,” Robs said. “No. Non. Nein. No. How many times do I have to tell you, Claire? I am not coming back. And I know I’m still “officially” employed by the company, and I want that to change as well. I’m not working here and I’m never working here again.”

“Fine,” Claire said. “I understand this has got to be a tough decision for you, so I’ll leave your job open until Sunday evening, but after that, I can’t guarantee anything.”

“I am not coming back,” Rob hissed, marching out of the office and down the hall for what he hoped would be the last time.

 

Felipinho didn’t know what was wrong with him, but something wasn’t right. He was sat on the carpet with the other children, listening to the story before lunch, when his stomach started to feel funny. At first, he thought he was hungry, and stopped paying attention to try to remember what he had in his sandwiches. He’d _asked_ for peanut butter and jam, but Papa said he had to have healthy sandwiches when he went to school. Then everything started to spin and, no, it wasn’t just because he was hungry.

His eyes flicked from the teacher reading the story to Mr Ricciardo, who was counting out the counting cubes to make sure there were none missing. He wasn’t going to be able to tell him something was wrong without everyone looking round, and he didn’t want that. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to tell Mr Ricciardo. If he told him he felt poorly, he was going to have to go home, and he couldn’t go home. Not whilst Papa was at work. He was just going to have to pretend he wasn’t-

No. That wasn’t going to work.

“Miss?”

“EW! FELIPINHO’S BEEN SICK!”

 

The day shift was going well, Felipe thought. It was strange to not have Jenson’s voice nattering on the radio, but the new voice was nice enough and he had no troubles for the first half of his shift.

Until it came to lunch.

The caller ID said “school” and Felipe really just wanted to ignore it. He just wanted to throw the phone out of the car window and pretend it wasn’t ringing. For just one day, he wanted to pretend he wasn’t a father.

But he couldn’t do any of that, and answered the phone as calmly as possible.

“Mr Massa? I’m calling from-.”

“Know where you are calling from,” Felipe said with a sigh. Just one day. Could he not have one day without Felipinho having a break down?

“I’m afraid your son’s been sick,” the school receptionist said. “Would you be able to come and collect him? He’s waiting in the school reception area.”

“Cannot come and collect him,” Felipe said. Of all the days. They had been going so well this morning. Why did the universe always feel like it was conspiring against him? “Am working.”

“Well, would you be able to find somebody else to come and collect him?” the receptionist asked, growing more and more impatient by the second. “We cannot risk any of the other children catching his bug.”

“Fine,” Felipe said, screwing his eyes shut. He didn’t know who else he knew who would be able to get to the school, but he was going to have to find someone. “Will send somebody.”

“Thank you,” the receptionist said. “Have a good day.”

Felipe hung up without replying, staring at the phone. His contact list was pitifully small and there was nobody in it who would be close enough to pick Felipinho up. His brother and Raffaela’s parents all lived too far away. Fernando and Jenson from work would not be at all pleased with a wake up call just to go and pick up a sick child. Felipe scrolled through the list, chewing on his lip. There was _nobody_ in his phone he would be able to call and he was going to have to go himself and-

_Williams Asshole_

Rob. Rob could go and pick him up. The Brit owed him a favour and Felipe was sure if he just asked _nicely_ …

 

Rob had actually had the sense to pick up his car from the television studios, even though he knew he wasn’t really in any fit state to drive, and was greeted with a pleasant surprise when he got there. Amongst all the parking fines was a note. His car keys, phone, and wallet were at Channel Six reception.

There were tears in Rob’s eyes as he collected his things from the woman behind the desk, grinning his thanks as he hurried back outside. The money in his wallet was gone but he didn’t really care about that. Frankie and Felix’s baby photos were still on display inside and, behind them, a photo of the four of them. For once, life seemed to be giving him a break.

When he turned on the phone, the voice mail notifications started to roll up, but a look at who they were from told him he’d already heard all of what they had to say on the house phone. Nothing from Lucy. Not that he had expected there to be.

The phone buzzed again and Rob frowned at it. It took him a couple of moments to realise it was ringing, and a couple more before he noticed the name.

“Felipe?”

“Hi,” the Brazilian said, and it _sounded_ like he was smiling, which didn’t seem right to Rob at all. “Was just wondering how you are feeling?”

“How I’m feeling?”

Now Rob knew this was all a dream. Because finding out his things had been saved and given back to him was strange enough, but there was no way Felipe Massa was phoning him to find out how he was feeling.

“Yeah,” Felipe said. “You are ok, after your ordeal?”

“Yeah…” Rob said, slowly, not trusting this at all. “I guess.”

“This is good,” Felipe said. “You are… erm? Are you busy?”

“Not really,” Rob said, curious as to what Felipe wanted. “Why?”

“Suppose it is good that you can relax,” Felipe said, and there wasn’t a hint of anger in his voice.

“What do you want?” Rob asked. He could _hear_ Felipe pussy footing around the subject and, no he didn’t have anything to do, but he’d much rather get whatever it was out of the way.

“Would you be able to pick Felipinho up from school?” Felipe asked, barely pausing between words.

“What?”

“He has been sick and there is nobody else I can phone,” Felipe said, quickly. “Please. You owe me a favour.”

“You threw me over a fence.”

“I saved your life,” Felipe pointed out. “Please. Have only just started this shift and cannot afford to take the afternoon off. He is a good boy, most of the time. I would not be asking you if I was not desperate.”

Well, Rob _knew_ that. Felipe wouldn’t even have been speaking to him if he wasn’t desperate.

“Please?”

“Alright,” Rob gave in. He had no idea why he was doing this. Felipe _had_ saved his life, he supposed? And had stopped being such a twat since Rob had left his job. And none of this was Felipinho’s fault.

And there was the fact that Rob was still convinced this was a dream.

“Do you want me to keep him for the day?” Rob asked.

“Could you?” Felipe asked. “It would only be until I finish work, if it is not too much trouble for you.”

“It’s fine,” Rob said, even though it very much wasn’t. “I’ll go and fetch him now.”

“Thank you so much.” Felipe really did sound desperate and Rob wondered for a moment if the Brazilian was having as shit a time as he was at the moment, but he doubted it.

 

Felipinho was sitting in the reception area with a bowl in front of him. He didn’t feel sick anymore, and he’d tried to get the teachers to let him go back into the classroom, but they wouldn’t let him. They didn’t want anybody else to be sick, and he didn’t really think that was going to happen, but grown ups knew best.

The reception lady had said someone else was going to be taking him home, and Felipinho was happy about that, at least. It meant Papa probably wouldn’t be angry at him (even if it wasn’t _his_ fault he was poorly). But he couldn’t think who the other person could be. Unless it was grandma and grandpa, but he hadn’t seen them in _ages_ , so it probably wasn’t them. He didn’t really think he wanted to go with them anyway…

The door buzzed and the reception lady let whoever was there. Felipinho huffed, unimpressed. He just wanted to go back to lessons.

“Hi, I’ve come to pick up Felipinho Massa?”

Felipinho frowned and looked up to see who had come for him.

“Frankie’s papa?”

Rob smiled at the child, giving him a little wave before turning back to the receptionist. “His father couldn’t make it.”

“He said,” the receptionist said, sceptically. Rob was down on the list of people allowed to pick Frankie up, but not the one for Felipinho. Not that there was really a list of people for Felipinho.

“Come on then,” Rob said, holding out his hand for Felipinho to take.

“Hang on a second,” the receptionist said. “Let me just check.”

Rob rolled his eyes, but he knew there were procedures for a reason. He sat down beside Felipinho, grinning at the way the child looked up at him.

“What are you doing here?” Felipinho asked.

“You’re papa asked me to come,” Rob said. “He’s very busy working and I’m… I’m not anymore.”

“Oh,” Felipinho said. “But I thought you weren’t friends with him. He calls you a bad man.”

“I know,” Rob said. “But sometimes grown ups just say silly things when they’re angry. We’re not really friends, but he helped me so now I’m helping him.”

“Ok,” Felipinho said, quietly. “Do you know that Frankie’s mummy has taken Frankie away?”

“Yeah,” Rob said, dropping his eyes to the floor. “Yeah, I heard.”

“So?” Felipinho asked. “What are you going to do about it? You were going to make it so he could stay here, remember?”

“I know,” Rob said.

“You promised,” Felipinho said.

“I know. And I’m going to find him again and bring him back here, ok? Don’t you worry about it.”

“Alright,” the receptionist said, putting the phone down. “You can take him.”

“Come on then,” Rob said, standing and taking hold of Felipinho’s hand. “We’ll get you back to my house and we can wait for Papa to finish work there.”


	33. Conscription

Rob was pretty sure Felipinho wasn’t ill anymore. He was sat in front of the television with a bowl of sweets in his lap, watching cartoons whilst Rob caught up with the news from his computer. The conscription thing was a mess. How were they supposed to do that kind of thing in this day and age? It was just going to end in a giant mess and Rob didn’t like the sound of it. But if his only other chance was going back to Williams, he was going to risk it. The war would probably be over before it had even begun, he told himself, though the business Williams had been negotiating before he left didn’t back up that theory.

“Frankie’s papa?”

“It’s just Rob, mate,” Rob corrected him.

“Oh, yeah. Rob?”

“Yeah?”

“What happened to your face?” Felipinho asked.

Rob grinned, running a hand over the injuries he’d obtained. Kids were so tactful, weren’t they?

“I was attacked,” he said. “By some bad guys.”

“Really?” Felipinho asked, wide eyes making Rob laugh. The bowl of sweets had been abandoned now in the favour of something much more interesting.

“Uh huh,” Rob said.

“But… but how did you get away from them?” Felipinho asked. It looked like they had been very nasty bad guys and Rob… Rob didn’t look like he got into fights with bad guys very often.

“Your papa found me,” Rob said. “And rescued me.”

And broke my nose.

Felipinho’s eyes grew even wider, if that were possible, his mouth open in awe.

“But… but my papa said you were the bad guy,” Felipinho reminded him, but then he remembered the other bad guys, the ones that meant his papa had to talk to the police instead of take him to school, and he clasped his hands over his mouth in shock, realising everything Rob had said was true. “Does this mean my papa is a good guy now too?”

“Your papa’s always been a good guy, mate,” Rob laughed.

“Nuh uh,” Felipinho said, shaking his head. “He was a bad guy, before. He was making it so I couldn’t be friends with Frankie, and that’s not a very nice thing to do.”

“Oh,” Rob said, his grin falling a little. “Well, that wasn’t your papa being a bad guy. He was just making a mistake.”

“Grown ups don’t make mistakes.”

“Grown ups make a lot of mistakes, mate,” Rob said, quietly.

 

By the time Felipe knocked on the front door, Felipinho was asleep, the bowl of sweets still in his lap as he dozed on the sofa. Rob quickly hid the bowl, not wanting to cause any more arguments than necessary, before answering the door.

Felipe looked exhausted. Rob couldn’t quite put his finger on what made him look quite so tired, but there was no denying it. The man on his door step looked as if he were about it drop dead, reminding Rob of the first time he’d seen Felipe away from the school.

“Thank you, for this,” Felipe said, coming inside when Rob stepped aside to allow him to do so. “Would not have asked you if I was not desperate.”

“You said,” Rob said. “He’s been as good as gold, don’t worry. And he hasn’t been sick since he got here, so it was probably not that big a problem.”

“Great,” Felipe said. “Where is he then?”

“Sleeping,” Rob said, leading Felipe into the living room. “Who’s looking after him tomorrow? Because I could, if you need me to.”

“Am not working tomorrow,” Felipe said, a smile on his face as he looked down at the sleeping child. “Have the weekends off.”

“Seems a bit silly to start a new shift on a Friday,” Rob observed.

Felipe just shrugged. “Work when they need me to work,” he said, lifting Felipinho onto his hip. “So I work a new shift Friday.”

Felipinho stirred, blinking up at his father.

“How are you feeling now? Still feeling a little poorley?”

“No,” Felipinho said, quietly, resting his head against Felipe’s shoulder again and going back to sleep. “No I’m ok.”

“Good,” Felipe said, smiling. At least he wasn’t going to have to spend the weekend cleaning up sick. That was one good out come from the day. He turned to Rob. “Thank you again for this.”

“It’s fine,” Rob said. “It’s kind of nice having him around. I could still have him tomorrow, if you want.”

“Said I am not working tomorrow,” Felipe said.

“I know,” Rob said. “But we all need a little time to ourselves, don’t we.”

“Can cope.”

“I’m not saying you can’t,” Rob said, quickly. “I just… I want to help. You… you threw me over a fence and you saved my life and looking after your kid for one afternoon isn’t enough to repay that. So what do you want me to do?”

“You… you mean it?” Felipe asked.

Rob nodded. “Whatever you want? I mean, looking after Felipinho was just a suggestion, but if you need anything else…”

“I will think about it,” Felipe said, the smile surprisingly still on his face.

Rob smiled back.

 

Sebastian was mildly surprised to find Dan already cooking dinner when he got into the flat. There was some awful pop song Sebastian refused to recognise playing full blast from the radio and Dan was bouncing along to it with a grin on his face and without a care in the world. Sebastian stood watching him with his arms crossed and a (much smaller) smile on his own face, glad to have the old Dan back, for however long he would be back.

“What has gotten into you?” Sebastian asked, causing Dan to jump three foot into the air.

“Fucking hell, Seb, don’t sneak up on me,” Dan said, glaring when the German started laughing at him.

“Did not sneak up on you,” Sebastian said.

“I was in the _zone_ ,” Dan said. “You need extra warning when you’re in the _zone_.”

“Fine then. I am sorry and I will bear that in mind in future,” Sebastian said, peering into the pan Dan was cooking in. “What is this?”

“Chow Mein,” Dan said. “Or it’s supposed to be.”

“It looks like a mess to me,” Sebastian said, grimly.

“Then you won’t want any, will you,” Dan said with a grin.

“What has brought all this on, then?” Sebastian asked, stepping aside to let Dan continue crafting his masterpiece.

“Nothing,” Dan said. “Just a good day, that’s all, and I felt like cooking.”

“No more problems?” Sebastian asked.

“Nope,” Dan said, grinning.

“You have heard about the conscription, I take it?” Sebastian asked.

“The what?”

Dan’s smile fell and the bouncing stopped. He turned to stare at Sebastian.

“You have not heard?” the German said, surprised.

“What conscription?” Dan asked.

“You need to watch the news, Daniel,” Sebastian said, turning the radio off. “They are bringing in conscription. For the war. There are not enough people who want to fight in it, so they are going to get ordinary people to fight.”

“They can’t do that,” Dan said. “Can they?”

Sebastian shrugged. “Whether or not they can, they are doing it,” he said. “It is all over the news. Some of the children were worried. It is difficult when they are aware of what is going on.”

“My kids are perfectly aware of what’s going on, mate,” Dan said. “So _we_ could be called to go to war.”

“Probably not us,” Sebastian said. “I was speaking to my father. He thinks that they’ll get “people who are not filling their potential” first. They’ll go through all of Highfield before they come to us.”

“What does that mean?”

“Poor people,” Sebastian said. “Have I mentioned my father is a conspiracy theory enthusiast?”

“Once or twice,” Dan mumbled, turning off the cooker. “They can’t do that, can they?”

Sebastian shrugged. “How am I supposed to know? But there is no point worrying about it whilst there is nothing we can do.”

“So we just sit here and hope for the best?” Dan asked.

“No,” Sebastian said. “We carry on. What else are we supposed to do?”

 

Rob fell onto the bed, exhausted. Once Felipe had taken Felipinho home, he’d phoned Mark in the hope they might have been able to get a little way towards finding Frankie and Felix, but it was no use. He’d no idea why doing so little had taken so much out of him but, strangely, Rob felt as he climbed into bed he had done more today than he had done in days.

He didn’t know why it mattered so much what Felipe thought of him, but he was glad the Brazilian no longer seemed to hate him. Maybe if he could convince Felipe not to hate him, he would figure out a way to do the same with Lucy. It was a stupid idea, but something had to work.

He’d have to work quickly, he thought, his eyes closed in the hope sleep would come quickly to him today. He needed to find a way to make friends with Felipe before the conscription reached them and they both got sent to war or something.

The conscription.


	34. Ways Out

So much for getting a lie in on Saturday morning. At some point, Felipinho had wriggled his way into his bed and Felipe was on the verge of being kicked out of the bed when he was woken by the phone down stairs ringing. Felipinho was still snoring softly at his side and Felipe thought it better to leave him there before rushing down the stairs to answer the phone.

“Hello?”

“Felipe?”

“Rob?” Felipe rolled his eyes. No emergency then. “Is half past six in the morning, Rob. Can this wait?”

“No,” Rob said. “No, I’ve been thinking about this all night and I’ve sat and done research.”

“What is it?”

“Conscription,” Rob said, almost choking on the word.

“What? Rob, is too early for this.”

“No, this is important,” Rob said. “Felipe, they’ve brought in conscription and they can send you to the East.”

“What?”

All the sleep disappeared instantly. Some part of his brain was trying to remind him what Fernando had been saying, _warning_ him, but he wasn’t listening to it. He shook his head, as if Rob could see that.

“Cannot do that,” Felipe said.

“They have,” Rob said. “Can I come round? I need to talk to you about this.”

“Why?”

“Because…” Rob sighed. Over the phone it sounded like a rush of static and Felipe couldn’t tell what the sigh meant. “I think I might have a way out of this. Please, Felipe. I am trying to help.”

Felipe nodded again. “Alright.”

“I’ll come over now,” Rob said.

He hung up first, leaving the beeping in Felipe’s ear. The Brazilian bit his lip, putting the phone back in the holder. They couldn’t do this. He had Felipinho to look after. They _couldn’t_ send him anywhere.

Deciding it was probably better to greet Rob dressed, Felipe headed back upstairs and was greeted by the stench of sick as he passed Felipinho’s bedroom. 

_Great._

Felipe was pushing the bedsheets into the washing machine when Rob knocked on the door. He looked no more presentable than when he’d gotten off the phone, but if Rob wanted any better he was going to have to come at a more reasonable time in the morning. Emergency or not, the Brit couldn’t really expect any better.

“Morning,” Rob said, deciding it was better to not to mention how awful Felipe looked.

“Come in,” Felipe muttered, standing aside to let Rob in.

“How are you?” Rob asked.

“Just get on with it,” Felipe said, leading Rob into the living room so he could sit down.

“Right,” Rob said, rubbing his hands together nervously. “You heard about the conscription, I guess?”

“Heard that they were planning it,” Felipe said, quietly. No, he didn’t keep on top of the news. He hadn’t even watched the news since Raffaela died, besides what Fernando showed him.

“I’ve been up all night thinking about it,” Rob said. “From what I can tell, they can call on anybody.”

Felipe shook his head. “Have Felipinho. They cannot do that.”

“They can,” Rob said. “Or that’s what I can tell. But I… I might know a way around them.”

“Frankie’s papa?”

Both father’s spun around to find Felipinho standing in the doorway, rubbing his eyes. There was a little sick on his pyjama top, Felipe noticed.

“What are you doing here?”

“Frankie’s papa has just come to talk to me about something,” Felipe said, jumping up. “Were you sick in the night?”

“Er…” Felipinho looked down at his top. “Uh huh.”

Felipe sighed, pulling Felipinho’s top over his head. “Go and put that in the washing basket, yeah?”

Felipinho nodded, bundling his pyjama top under his arm and heading back off under the stairs.

“Still ill?” Rob asked.

“Looks like it,” Felipe said, settling back down on the sofa. “You know a way around them?”

“What? Oh, yeah,” Rob shook his head, trying to remember what he was actually here for. “Yeah. Williams.”

Felipe stiffened at the name of the company and Rob had known when he came up with this stupid plan that Felipe wasn’t going to like it, but it was the only way out, or the only one he could see. The Brazilian didn’t say anything, and Rob took that as a queue to continue.

“Williams are trying to get me to go back to work for them,” he said, slowly, pausing at the end of every sentence to make sure Felipe was taking in everything he said. “Now, I said no, of course. I hate it there. But my boss isn’t letting me go so easily, you know? She’s said that some high ranking Williams employees would be able to get out of the conscription.”

“Why would they be able to do that?” Felipe asked, surprising Rob a little. He was genuinely considering this plan. Rob had expected Felipe to throw him out straight away or listen and then ignore him and kick him out. Either way, he hadn’t expected this.

“The company is supplying the government with weapons,” Rob explained. “So, it is in the government’s best interest for the company to have the best people working for them.”

“And that would include you?” Felipe asked.

Rob nodded. “I think so, yeah.”

“So, you can get out of this conscription,” Felipe said. “But… what does that have to do with me?”

Rob took a deep breath. If he was honest, he didn’t think he would even get this far into his plan.

“Maybe I’ll need an assistant,” he said, slowly. “An assistant who would probably also get out of any conscription.”

He swallowed hard, hoping Felipe understood what he was saying to him. The Brazilian just stared at him and Rob could practically see the cogs ticking in his brain.

“I would work for you?” Felipe asked.

Rob nodded. “Making sure I got to meetings and… stuff…”

He didn’t really know what kind of thing any assistant of his would get up to. He was fairly self motivated and kept on top of everything he was supposed to be doing. But the role was there, if he needed it, and he was sure it wouldn’t be difficult to convince Claire that he did need it, especially when she heard who he was planning to fill it with.

“And Williams… they will let you do this?” Felipe asked.

“Probably,” Rob said.

“I do not believe you,” Felipe said.

Of course he didn’t. “I’m going to be honest,” Rob said, his eyes shut. He half expected a sarcastic remark for the comment, but Felipe remained silent. “Williams are going to want you there because it’s good branding. The same reason they wanted to give you that compensation. I want you there because… I just want to help, Felipe. I feel responsible and I feel like I owe you and if there’s any way I can make your life slightly less shit, I’m going to take it.”

He opened his eyes, not sure what to expect. He knew Felipe would want nothing to do with Williams. _He_ didn’t even want anything to do with Williams at the moment. But it was the only way he could see out of this, and he wanted Felipe to know there was a way out.

Felipe nodded, silent.

“Papa!” Felipinho called, hurrying down the stairs. “I’m hungry.”

“You cannot have breakfast, Felipinho,” Felipe said, gently. “You are poorly. You go back to bed in my bed, yeah? I will be up when I have finished talking to Frankie’s papa.”

“But I’m hungry.”

“But you do not want to be sick again, do you?” Felipe asked. “If you are sick and you have food, you will be even more sick.”

“But Frankie’s papa gave be sweets yesterday,” Felipinho said around the fingers he had put in his mouth.

Felipe turned to Rob, unimpressed.

“Sorry about that,” Rob said, quietly.

“Well, Frankie’s papa was very silly to do that,” Felipe said, ushering his son back up the stairs. “And that is probably why you are sick today. Upstairs. Come on.”

Felipinho groaned, unimpressed, but did as his father told him to do.

“Sorry about that,” Rob said again.

“This… assistant job,” Felipe said, slowly. “What would it be doing?”

“Not a lot really,” Rob said. “I can do it myself really. Just text me in the morning when I have meeting really. You could stay at home with Felipinho.”

“So… would not have to go onto television or anything?” Felipe asked.

“No, well… Claire would probably want some photos or something,” Rob said. “Just to say you’re on the team and whatever. Publicity. But that would be it.”

“And you are sure I will not have to go away?” Felipe asked.

“No,” Rob said. “I can’t guarantee it, but you have a better chance with Williams than not.”

“Alright,” Felipe said. If this really was the only way out, then he didn’t have any choice really. He couldn’t risk having to leave Felipinho alone. “I’ll do it.”


	35. Letters and Conditions

Nothing was certain. Rob made that very clear to him before he left. There was no way Rob could guarantee he would get out of the conscription and he was thinking about that when he came back up the stairs. Felipinho was wrapped up in bed, looking very sorry for himself. Felipe sighed, watching him play with the bed sheets for a couple of moments.

“How are you feeling?” Felipe asked.

“Hungry,” Felipinho said.

Felipe laughed, coming over to sit beside Felipinho on the bed. “If you have not been sick by lunch time, you can have some toast, yeah?”

“That’s ages away,” Felipinho complained.

“Yep,” Felipe said, feeling Felipinho’s forehead. It wasn’t warm. He was probably ok to have some toast now, but Felipe didn’t want to risk it.

“What did Frankie’s papa want?” Felipinho asked. “Does he know where Frankie is? Is he going to rescue him?”

“No,” Felipe said, gently. “No, it was nothing like that.”

“Then what was it?” Felipinho asked, playing with the bed sheets, bored.

“Ok,” Felipe said, taking a deep breath. He was going to have to explain properly. He hadn’t been able to get away without explaining anything else properly, and Felipinho _needed_ to understand this. “You know about the fighting in the East, don’t you? The bad guys?”

“The ones that got mummy?”

“Yeah,” Felipe said, quietly. “Them. Well, our army has gone to fight the bad guys so they can’t hurt anybody else.”

“Yay,” Felipinho said cheerfully. That had to be a good thing, didn’t it? That meant the bad guys weren’t going to be there, and then they could go to the East and get ice cream every day.

“Yeah,” Felipe said, his voice getting quieter. “But, you know, our army is not very big. There are not a lot of people in it. So they are going to make ordinary people go into the army instead.”

“Huh?”

That didn’t seem like a good idea. Ordinary people wouldn’t know how to fight the bad guys properly.

“That’s silly,” he said.

“I know,” Felipe said, laughing a little. “Very silly. But they think it is a good idea. So that means I might have to go.”

“What?”

No, Papa couldn’t go. Mr Ricciardo had said Papa wasn’t going to leave him and Mr Ricciardo had _promised_. Papa couldn’t go. Everybody else was already gone and he didn’t _have_ anybody else.

“Frankie’s papa is going to try to make it so I won’t have to go,” Felipe said, gently. “I do not want to leave you, Felipinho. And we are going to do everything to make sure I do not have to go away. But it might not work. We cannot promise.”

“You _have_ to promise,” Felipinho said, his bottom lip wobbling a little. “You have to promise you aren’t going to go away.”

“I cannot promise,” Felipe said, wiping Felipinho’s hair out of his eyes again. “I cannot promise but we are going to try really, really hard, ok? Really, really, _really_ hard.”

“You _can’t_ ,” Felipinho said, wrapping his arms around his father’s neck. “I’m not letting you.”

Felipe laughed, pulling Felipinho off of him and sitting him on his lap.

“It is not good,” he said quietly. “And I do not want to go. And if it was down to me, I would not go. But sometimes things do not go the way we want them to, do they? Like with Frankie, yeah?”

Felipinho looked up at him, unimpressed.

“Not like Frankie,” he said, sticking his bottom lip out as far as it could go. _Not_ like Frankie, or grandma and grandpa, or mummy. “You are not going away like Frankie. You are staying _right here_.”

 

Rob huffed as he got back into the car, a little relieved that he didn’t have an angry Latin man chasing him out of the house. He didn’t really believe Felipe had agreed with him. Now he just had to go to Claire…

He was pretty sure Williams would welcome him back with open arms. They wouldn’t have kept his job open for so long if they didn’t. But he wasn’t sure how much power he was going to have. He was meeting Claire’s deadline of the end of the weekend, so there wasn’t that stopping him…

Analysing the situation wasn’t going to change anything, Rob figured as he started the car again. He was just going to have to go and hope for the best.

 

“Back again, are we?” Pat asked as Rob made his way through the front office of Williams’ head of PR. He stood behind Valtteri at the Finn’s desk, taking in Rob’s broken features.

Rob rolled his eyes and laughed. “Looks like it.”

“For good?” Valtteri asked.

Rob shrugged. “Depends what Claire says. She in her office?”

“Rob?” the woman in question asked as she hurried down the hall from her own office. She sounded surprised, but the look on her face was masked by a smile in only a few moments. “Didn’t expect to see you here again.”

“Can we talk?” Rob asked.

Claire nodded, handing Valtteri the file she was carrying before leading Rob back to her office. Rob smiled weakly at his co-workers before hurrying after her.

“You’re coming back,” Claire said as she let the two of them into her office. Rob wasn’t sure if it was a statement or a question.

“I have conditions,” he said.

Claire settled into the chair behind her desk, not bothering to offer Rob a seat. Rob wouldn’t take it anyway.

“What kind of conditions?”

“I want out of the conscription,” Rob said, definitely. There would be no hope for Felipe if _he_ couldn’t even get out of the stupid system.

“You don’t like the idea of getting yourself killed, Rob?” Claire asked, sweetly.

“No, I prefer it when you get me killed,” Rob replied with a smile just as sickeningly sweet.

“Alright,” Claire said, the act gone. “We’ll get that sorted. Is that all?”

“I want an assistant,” Rob said.

“You have Valtteri,” Claire said.

“No, an _actual_ assistant,” Rob said. “One that works and assists _me_.”

“Why do you need an assistant?” Claire asked. “No, I don’t want to know. We’ll find somebody.”

“I’ve already found somebody,” Rob said.

“Very demanding today, aren’t you Mr Smedley,” Claire teased.

“You nearly got me killed,” Rob said. “I shouldn’t even be coming back to work for you.”

“Fine,” Claire said. She got the feeling Rob was never going to let _that_ one go. Maybe they would have to plan something even more terrifying to cause Rob to get over it. “Who is it?”

“Felipe Massa,” Rob said, not missing a beat.

Claire opened her mouth to reply before realising what Rob had said and shutting it again. It was the reaction Rob had been hoping for.

“Massa?” Claire said, eventually.

Rob nodded.

“As in…”

“Raffaela Massa’s husband,” Rob clarified.

“How… Have you spoken to him?” Claire asked. There was no way she could figure out that would convince Massa to work for them. This was somebody who refused to even speak to them for a while.

“Yes,” Rob said, confidently.

“And he knows about this?” Claire asked. She didn’t believe it. There was no way Rob could have done this.

“Yes,” Rob said. “He’s agreed.”

Rob grinned when Claire looked at him, suspiciously.

“How?” she asked, eventually.

“That’s the third condition,” Rob said.

“He wants out of the conscription, doesn’t he?” Claire said. She closed her eyes and shook her head, slightly. Of course he wanted out of the conscription too. “I don’t know if I can do that, Rob. It’s just for our top personnel.”

“But you can try,” Rob said. “Come on, Claire. We killed that child’s mother. The least we can do is try to stop his father being taken away too.”

“We haven’t killed anybody, Rob,” Claire said with a sigh. Maybe she should get that on a tape. Rob could listen to it whilst he slept and maybe it would sink in. “Fine, ok. I will _ask_ , but I can’t guarantee anything.”

“Thank you,” Rob sighed, then stuck the cheesiest smile he could manage onto his face. “When do we start?”

 

Felipinho was lying on the sofa with his feet on his father’s lap. Now that he had come to terms with not having any breakfast, he was quite enjoying being sick. He was allowed to lie on the sofa and watch cartoons, and that was never normally allowed.

There was a gentle thud in the hallway as the post clattered though the post box at around midday. Felipe rolled his eyes, muttering about how the post man was always late, and shifted Felipinho’s feet off of him to pick up the post, only for Felipinho to follow him out, holding on tightly to his hand.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Felipe said, laughing and ruffling Felipinho’s hair.

Felipinho just looked up at him, an unimpressed look on his face.

“It’s ok,” Felipe said. “ _If_ I do have to go, I won’t just leave, ok? We will both know about it and we will make sure you are some place happy, yeah.”

“You’re not going,” Felipinho said. Maybe if he kept saying it, he would be able to make his father promise.

“I have to get the post, Felipinho,” Felipe said. When Felipinho didn’t let go of him, he didn’t have any choice but to lead the five year old into the hallway. He scooped up the letters, flicking through the bills until he found a cream coloured envelope at the back of the pile. “This one’s for you.”

“For _me?_ ”

“Yep,” Felipe said, handing Felipinho the letter.

Felipinho frowned at it, his mouth moving as he read the name on the front of the envelope. It was definitely for him. He took hold of his father’s hand again, leading Felipe back into the living room so he could open his letter. As soon as he had the piece of paper out of the envelope, his eyes widened, recognising the hand writing instantly.

“It’s from Frankie!”

“Is it?” Felipe grinned, sitting down beside Felipinho just as the child bounced up.

“He wrote me a letter, Papa!”

“Told you he would,” Felipe said, wrestling his son back onto the sofa. “Do you want me to read it for you?”

“Can we send one back?” Felipinho asked, climbing onto his father’s lap and waving the letter in his face. “ _Please_.”

“Think we should read this one first,” Felipe laughed, taking the paper from Felipinho and peering at the messy handwriting. “Right then. Dear Felipinho…”

“That’s me,” Felipinho said, happily.

“Yes,” Felipe said, unable to believe how excited Felipinho was. “Dear Felipinho, Mummy says we can write letters. Yay! And you can write one back and it will come in the post. Just like grown ups. We have a new house now and I have a new bedroom and a new bed and my bed has Jake and the Neverland Pirates on it! I have to share a room with Felix though and he’s going to make Mummy paint the walls green. Yuck. I went to see my new school today but I don’t get to start two weeks because I can’t start yet. It’s an ok school, I guess. Mummy thinks I’m going to make lots of friends. I don’t know if any of them will do races though. Mummy says she’s going to write our address on the envelope and then you can write me a letter like grown ups do, yeah? From Frankie.”

“Can I write a letter?” Felipinho cried, snatching the paper back from his father and looking over the words.

“Yes, you can write a letter,” Felipe said.

“And we can put my painting in it?” Felipinho said.

“Yes, I suppose we can put your painting in it.”

“Yes!” Felipinho cried, jumping up and racing up the stairs.

Felipe just laughed, following him to the bottom of the stairs. “I thought you were poorly.”

“Feeling better now,” Felipinho called back down. There was a crash from up the stairs and Felipe knew he had his crayons box out. He shook his head, climbing the stairs after him.


	36. Meeting at Williams

_We will have to meet, of course._

Felipe had never been so nervous to meet somebody. Thinking back now, he realised he probably shouldn’t have been such a twat when he spoke to Williams before, but how was he to know they might have ended up saving his life? Note to self, don’t be a twat to _anybody_ to avoid possible future embarrassment.

“It’s alright, you know,” Rob said, sat next to him in the car. “Claire will just want to pretend that she’s got the upper hand. You ain’t got anything to worry about.”

Felipe nodded, knowing Rob was probably right. But he still couldn’t stop the sick rising in his throat.

“Think I have maybe caught Felipinho’s bug,” he mumbled, watching Rob pull into the car park.

Felipinho had managed to make it the rest of the weekend without being sick, meaning he was able to head into school happily on the Monday morning, taking his letter with him so he could show Mr Ricciardo.

“I think it’s best you don’t puke on her, mate,” Rob said.

“Thank you for your advice,” Felipe whispered, his eyes closed. Now he hoped it _was_ just nerves making him feel like this. He’d already had to take the day off of work (his _second day on the shift._ Fernando was not going to be impressed). He didn’t need that right now.

“Do you want to wait here whilst I make sure she’s in, or do you want to wait inside?” Rob asked.

“Think I should wait here,” Felipe said, quietly. He would probably be better able to follow Rob’s advice if he waited here.

“Alright then,” Rob said, opening the car door. “I shouldn’t be too long.”

Felipe opened his eyes to watch the Brit go, jumping a little when he slammed the car door shut. Rob hurried into the building, trying to look like he was supposed to be there. He nodded to the receptionist, assuming she knew why he was here, and made his way up to the PR department.

“Claire says you are coming back to work,” Valtteri said as soon as he entered the room.

“Yeah,” Rob said. “Looks like it.”

Valtteri smiled, pleased to have the Brit back in the office. He hoped it would mean less TV appearances for him and, after filling in for Rob on a couple of jobs, Valtteri understood why he had left.

“Is Claire in?” Rob asked.

“In her office,” Valtteri said. “You are staying for good now?”

“For now,” Rob said. If he could find something else that didn’t mean he was going to have to go to war, he would probably take it. He was sure Claire knew that though.

Valtteri’s smile fell a little, but he nodded, returning to his desk and letting Rob head to Claire’s office.

“Rob?” Claire said, smiling. “Is he here?”

“Waiting outside,” Rob said. “A little nervous.”

“Nervous?” Claire frowned. “Why would he be nervous?”

The Brazilian had never come across to her as the type to get nervous whenever she had spoken to him. The circumstances had been much different from these, of course, but it still didn’t seem right to Claire.

Rob nodded.

“Right then,” Claire said. “Do you want to bring him in? It doesn’t make sense to have the conversation from out the window.”

 

Felipe was taking deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. The sick feeling had left since Rob had gotten out of the car, and he was pretty sure it was just down to nerves rather than Felipinho’s bug.

Rob had told him he was pretty much guaranteed to get the job and Felipe knew he had no reason not to trust him. Claire had decided to go along with Rob’s plan and Felipe didn’t need to worry. It was just a formality, Rob had said.

The Brazilian had his eyes closed again when Rob knocked on the passenger side window, grinning when he made Felipe jump.

“She’s ready,” he said, opening the car door so Felipe could get out. “You feeling ok?”

“Am fine,” Felipe mumbled, glad to see the floor wasn’t spinning when he was stood up. This shouldn’t take too long, he thought. He could make it through the meeting.

Rob lead Felipe into the Williams headquarters, nodding to the receptionist as he always did. The receptionist gave Felipe a curious smile, but she had to know who he was and what he was going here. Rob was sure Claire must have told everyone what was going on.

They said nothing as Rob lead Felipe up to the PR department, but everybody in the entire building seemed to be watching them. Nobody made a comment though, not one that Rob could hear. He really didn’t see why this was such a big deal. They’d brought people who had been, at one point, against them into the building before, and it had never gained this much attraction. Suddenly, Rob was worried. What _exactly_ had Claire told them? What did she have in mind?

Pat was stood at Valtteri’s desk when they arrived at the right department, point at something on the computer. They both looked up when Rob and Felipe came in, smiling weakly in a way they hoped was welcoming.

“This is Felipe then?” Pat asked.

Felipe looked around the large, empty room. “This is it?” he asked, quietly.

“Pretty much,” Rob said. “Don’t worry about it. There’s enough to get everything done.”

 _Don’t worry about it. Don’t worry about it._ Felipe was beginning to wonder what he _was_ going to have to worry about because, so far, all Rob had been trying to do was convince him that it was all going to be ok.

“Come on,” Rob said, quietly, tugging gently on Felipe’s arm to lead him down the corridor that lead to Claire’s office. “You ok?” he asked again.

“Am fine,” Felipe insisted, watching Rob knock on the door.

“Come in.”

 

“Look!” Felipinho said, excitedly, pulling on Dan’s arm until the teacher looked down at what he was showing him. They were stood in the cloak room after first break when Felipinho had remembered the letter he had to show his teacher. “It’s from Frankie!”

“He wrote you a letter?” Dan asked.

Felipinho nodded, enthusiastically, grinning up at him.

“Wow, that’s awesome,” Dan said, looking at the piece of paper. It was definitely the right handwriting. Dan liked to think he would recognise Frankie Smedley’s handwriting anywhere. “Did you write him one back?”

“Yeah,” Felipinho said, happier than Dan had seen him since his friend had left. “And we put it in an envelope and we put a stamp on it and I put it in the post box so the post man can take it to Frankie.”

He was a little sad he didn’t get to take the letter to Frankie himself. They knew where he lived, so why couldn’t he go and see him. Papa had said they would go and see him one day, maybe in the school holidays. That was _ages_ away, though.

“Awesome,” Dan said. “Come on. Let’s get you inside before we start maths, yeah.”

“Mr Ricciardo?” Felipinho asked, taking hold of Dan’s hand.

“Yeah?”

“My papa said he might have to go away one day,” Felipinho said, the smile having fallen off the little boy’s face. “He said he might have to go and fight in the East.”

“Oh,” Dan said, quietly. He looked down at Felipinho, the child looking up at him with tear filled eyes.

“I don’t want him to go away,” Felipinho said.

“I know,” Dan said, stopping just outside the classroom door. “I know you don’t. And I’m sure your papa doesn’t want to go away either. But sometimes grown ups have to do things they don’t want to do, because there are even more important grown ups who tell them what they have to do. Like, you know Mr Jones, he tells me what to do, doesn’t he?”

“Nando is Papa’s boss,” Felipinho said. “But Nando would never tell him to go to the East. He just tells him where to drive his car.”

“Yeah?” Dan said. “Well, sometimes there are even more important people than the boss, and they will say if your papa or another grown up will go to the East.”

“Another grown up?” Felipinho asked.

“Uh huh.”

“Does that mean… does that mean _you_ might have to go to the East?” Felipinho asked. “I don’t _want_ you to go to the East, either. I don’t want anybody to go to the East.”

“I know you don’t,” Dan said. “Nobody does. I’m not going anywhere, ok? I’m going to stay here and help you do counting and reading, aren’t I?”

“You promise?” Felipinho asked, wiping his eyes on the back of his hand and sniffing loudly.

“I promise,” Dan said.

“Good,” Felipinho said. “Frankie’s papa is going to make it so my papa doesn’t have to go anywhere either.”

“Is he now?”

“Yeah,” Felipinho said. “Papa wouldn’t promise, but I know Frankie’s papa can do it. He’s a good guy.”

 

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Rob said, as he led Felipe back down through the building.

Claire had just wanted to make sure that Felipe wasn’t going to do anything stupid. She wanted to know Williams had his loyalty and he wasn’t going to betray them the first chance he got. Rob thought Felipe had done pretty well and, thankfully, hadn’t started getting snappy and sarcastic. Something in the little Brazilian had changed and, so far, it seemed to be for the better.

“You are sure it went ok?” Felipe asked. Claire hadn’t said much. She hadn’t said if he had the job or not or if he passed this test of hers. Felipe didn’t know what to think now.

“I’m sure,” Rob said, putting an arm over Felipe’s shoulder. “She just likes to make you think she’s in charge. You did fine. She’ll probably phone you this afternoon. Or just randomly show up at your house. She has a habit of that.”

“I cannot just leave Fernando in the lurch, though,” Felipe said, suddenly realising what joining Williams would mean for the taxi company. Fernando was already down one man on the night shift. He couldn’t just leave.

“How much notice do you have to give?” Rob asked.

Felipe shrugged. He’d never had to even ask that before. “A week, maybe,” he said. He thought that was how long Kevin had had to give when he left.

“Alright,” Rob said. “You can tell your boss as soon as Claire gives you the call, yeah. You can work off your notice. It’ll be fine.”

“You are sure Claire will be ok with this?” Felipe asked.

“I think she doesn’t even need to know,” Rob said. “You’re gonna be my assistant and if it assists me for you to sit in a cab and drive people around for a week, then it has fuck all to do with her.”

Felipe smiled weakly. He knew he didn’t deserve any of this from Rob. Yes, he _had_ saved the Brit’s life, but he’d also been an idiot about it. He didn’t deserve this.

“You really do not like her, do you?” he asked.

“Who, Claire?” Rob asked. “She’s not my favourite person in the world.”

“But she gives you this way out of the conscription,” Felipe pointed out.”

“Yeah,” Rob said. He couldn’t deny that that was a good thing. He could have gone to war. He didn’t really have anything against playing his part in cleaning up the mess he had helped cause. But getting Frankie and Felix back was more important to him than any moral duty he had to fore fill, and he couldn’t do that from the East. “But if it weren’t for this job, I wouldn’t have lost Frankie and Felix. Or Lucy.”

“Oh,” Felipe said, quietly.

“Williams has done a lot of good for me, sure,” Rob said. “I wouldn’t still have the job if I had any other options though.”

He’d thought about leaving back when Lucy had left him. It made sense. He spent so much time focusing on work she had to go and find love from someone else. From _John_ of all people. And she had never liked the way they were in the public eye because of it. The egging on the school runs and things like that. Rob had _understood_ why she left him. And, maybe if he had left Williams back then like he’d known he should have, none of this would have happened.

“Is a good thing you are still here though,” Felipe said. “In the end.”

“I guess so,” Rob said, quietly.


	37. Back on Track

Felipinho was back to sitting on the kitchen counter again, happily telling his father about his day at school and pinching tomatoes away from the chopping board when he thought Felipe wasn’t looking.

“ _And_ I scored a goal at play time,” Felipinho said. “And then everybody wanted me to be on their team at lunch time.”

“Really?” Felipe said, scooping the tomatoes up and putting them in the frying pan. “Wow, that is good. Did you score again at lunch time?”

“No,” Felipinho said. “I nearly did, though.”

He smiled up at his father, proudly. Everybody wanted to be his friend again now, because he was the best footballer in their entire year group.

“That is really good,” Felipe said. “Maybe tomorrow you will score two goals, yeah?”

“You really think?” Felipinho said, excitedly.

“Of course,” Felipe said, shifting Felipinho onto a chair at the table so he could wipe the counter down.

“Did I get a letter today?” Felipinho asked.

“Huh?”

“A letter?” Felipinho said, slowly. “From Frankie. Did I get one?”

“Oh,” Felipe said, realising what he was talking about. “No, you didn’t get one.”

“Oh,” Felipinho said, sadly. Frankie couldn’t have forgotten about him already could he? Maybe his letter wasn’t good enough. He’d tried using his neatest handwriting and everything, but maybe Frankie didn’t like it. Maybe he didn’t like his picture.

“Is probably the post man’s fault,” Felipe said, sitting down beside Felipinho. “Not your fault or Frankie’s fault. You know they do not work on Sundays. He probably did not even get your letter today. Maybe it will come tomorrow.”

“You think?” Felipinho asked.

“I am sure that is the reason,” Felipe promised. “I bet it will be here tomorrow. Unless he is painting you a picture too. Then maybe it will take a little longer.”

Felipinho beamed at the idea of a picture. “We can put it on the fridge if he paints a picture.”

“Maybe, yeah,” Felipe said, kissing the top of Felipinho’s head and returning to the cooking.

“Did you go with Frankie’s papa today?” Felipinho asked, watching Felipe closely. Frankie’s papa was going to save the day and make it so his papa didn’t have to go away, and it was _his_ job to make sure his papa actually helped Frankie’s papa and didn’t go back to being a bad guy.

“Yep,” Felipe said. “I went to see Frankie’s papa’s boss and she is going to help us so I don’t have to go away.”

“Yes!” Felipinho whispered. Now there was two people, and his papa. There was no way his papa was going anywhere.

 

_“We can’t carry on like this, Rob,” Lucy said. She had egg in her hair and tears streaming down her face. Frankie had hurried up the stairs as soon as they had come inside and Rob knew he was probably hiding under his blankets right now. Lucy would go up and sort him out, when she calmed down. If only Rob knew how to calm her down._

_“It’s ok,” Rob said. “They’re after me and they’re after Williams. Not you and the boys.”_

_“But it’s me and the boys they’re hurting,” Lucy cried, waking Felix up. The baby started crying from the pram and Lucy couldn’t even stand to look at him, a new wave of tears rolling down her face. “I can’t do this anymore, Rob.”_

_“Well I can’t do anything about it, can I?” Rob said. “Not anything I’m not already trying to bloody do. It’s my job Lucy. I can’t change it. You knew what I did when you agreed to marry me. When you agreed to have two kids with me.”_

_“So this is my fault?” Lucy snapped. “I made the decision to have eggs thrown at me?”_

_“Yes! No, that isn’t what I meant,” Rob said._

_“Fuck off, Rob,” Lucy snapped, picked Felix up from his pram and rocking him gently, hoping he would stop crying._

_“Fine,” Rob snapped. “I’ve got work to do.”_

Claire had emailed him a folder full of files he had to go through, and he had been going through them, until he fell asleep. He woke in the middle of the night with a stiff neck and drool down his chin. The more he woke up, blinking back sleep and trying to stretch a little at his desk, the more the dream clears in his mind.

What would Lucy say if she knew he was back at Williams? He was doing it for all the right reasons. He didn’t enjoy it there, and he didn’t enjoy what they did. Maybe _his_ Lucy would have understood. She would have understood how desperately he wanted to see his children. So desperately, he would sit through all the egg throwing and the abuse if it meant he had a chance to see them. And _his_ Lucy would be happy when she found out what Rob was trying to do for Felipe too. _His_ Lucy would have understood.

But John’s Lucy?

If Lucy found out now that Rob was working at Williams again, he would never get to see the kids…

Either way, he probably wasn’t going to see Frankie and Felix again. He had no idea where they were, no idea where to start looking and he could phone Lucy every day of his life if he wanted to, she wasn’t going to answer. It was no use. He should just give up.

 

Fernando wasn’t very impressed with Felipe leaving, of course, but there wasn’t much he could do. Felipe served his notice and it wasn’t long before he was on the Williams pay roll “permanently”. Although he still didn’t know if that would keep him from being sent over to the East yet.

Working for Rob was surprisingly easy. All he had asked for was that Felipe kept a diary of his meetings for him so that if Claire ever asked, it would look like he was doing something. Felipe got the odd phone call from a company asking him to arrange a meeting with Rob and that was it. Felipe could dedicate his time to Felipinho. He could be the person Felipinho needed him to be.

It was about a week after he’d left the taxi company when he got the call from Claire. Or when she had arrived at his house without any noticed and forced her way inside.

“We need to do a press release,” she said.

“Ok,” Felipe said, slowly. “Think it is you and Rob who are dealing with all of that.”

“ _No_ ,” Claire said. “We need to do a press release about _you_.”

“Me?”

“Yes,” Claire said, as if she was speaking to an infant. “And Rob. Talk about the heroic rescue, how Williams are paying you back for saving our top member of staff from the hands of the terrorists by providing you with a good job.”

Felipe bit his lip, trying not to argue. Yes, it was all lies, but that was Claire’s job. She needed to make the company look good, and wasn’t this the only reason she had hired him?

“Where do you need me?” Felipe asked through gritted teeth.

“Wednesday, I need you at Williams headquarters,” Claire said. “We’ll bring the press in, have a little lunch thing. Bring the child too. It would be really good.”

“Felipinho has school,” Felipe said.

“Take him out of it,” Claire said. “He’s five. What’s he going to miss? Finding out what comes after the number eleven?”

“Needs to go to school,” Felipe said. School was finally going alright for Felipinho. He hadn’t had to be called in since the letters from Frankie had begun to come and Felipinho was already talking about other children he was playing with (even if he did insist they only liked him because he could score goals in football). Felipe couldn’t pull him out of it.

“Fine, don’t bring him,” Claire said. It wouldn’t really matter anyway. The kid would probably only do something embarrassing. “Just bring yourself.”

“Will I need to say anything?” Felipe asked.

“No,” Claire said. “Well, you’re going to have to talk to people. Socialise and stuff. You can do that, can’t you? Socialise?”

“Yes,” Felipe said with a sigh. He was beginning to see why Rob wasn’t too fond of Claire. Clearly not everyone who worked at Williams had Rob’s attitude to the world. “But am not going to have to answer anything about the company.”

“No, why would you?” Claire asked.

“I do not know, have never done anything like this before,” Felipe said. “Do not really know what to expect.”

“You’ll be fine,” Claire promised. “I’ll see you on Wednesday about ten, alright?”

Felipe just nodded, not really having much of a choice. Rob had said they would probably want something like this, didn’t he? All the good publicity this would get the company. That was what he was there for.

Felipe saw Claire out and quickly closed the door behind her.

 

Rob had thrown himself into his work and that was probably the exact opposite of what he was supposed to be doing to get the kids back but he didn’t… no, he _did_ care, but there was no hope of getting them back anymore. Frankie and Felix were gone and he needed something to occupy his mind, and Claire was happy to provide that.

He was in the middle of writing a very important email when Felipe phoned. Rob frowned at the mobile, then checked his diary before answering. No, there was nothing he was supposed to be doing. No reason for Felipe to be phoning him. Unless there was an emergency and he needed someone to pick up Felipinho again, which was a possibility, Rob guessed.

“Felipe?”

“Have just had a visit from Claire,” Felipe said, quietly.

“Ok,” Rob said, feeling like he was probably missing something here.

“Says you are- we are doing some press release thing,” Felipe says. “Says I need to be there. On Wednesday. So that everyone knows that I am working for Williams.”

“Oh,” Rob said. Claire had finally gotten around to that. Rob had thought she would have told him about it first, but never mind. She would probably appear with a puff of smoke soon enough. “Yeah, that’ll be just what I was telling you about before. Nothing to worry about.”

“Know this,” Felipe said. “But what am I supposed to do there? Says I have to socialise? With who?”

“It’ll probably be a really informal thing, they do them all the time,” Rob said. “I’ll tell you what. Why don’t you and Felipinho come over for dinner tonight and I’ll explain what happens.”

“Dinner?” Felipe asked.

“Yes,” Rob said. “It is the evening meal.”

“Know what dinner is,” Felipe snapped. “You want us to come to yours for dinner?”

“Only if you want to,” Rob said. He hadn’t thought the offer was that big a deal. It just meant he would actually have to force himself to eat today and that was probably going to be necessary.

“Like a date?” Felipe asked, uncertainly.

“Yes, a date where you bring your son along and I tell you how to please rotten members of the press.”

Rob realised as soon as he said it that he probably shouldn’t have insulted reporters. It would only be another thing for the Brazilian to fall out with him over and get angry about, but Felipe didn’t even pick up on it.

“Alright, what time would you like us at?”


	38. Preparing for the Press

“Where are we going?” Felipinho asked. They didn’t normally have to go out after school. The only time they’d ever had to go out after school was when Papa had been working at the taxi place, and that was after dinner normally. This was weird and Felipinho didn’t know if he liked it.

“We’re going to go and have dinner with Frankie’s papa,” Felipe said, doing Felipinho’s seat belt up before closing the car door and hurrying round to the other side.

Felipinho was frowning at him by the time Felipe was sat down and buckled up. “Don’t we have any food?”

“Yes, we have food,” Felipe laughed. “But Frankie’s papa thought it would be a good idea to have dinner at his house, so we can talk about work things.”

“Is Frankie going to be there?”

“No,” Felipe said sadly. “Frankie is with his mummy.”

“Oh, yeah,” Felipinho said, sadly. He was much less excited now. If Frankie wasn’t going to be there, he was just going to have to listen to his papa and Frankie’s papa talking about boring grown up stuff all the way through dinner, and that didn’t sound like much fun at all.

 

Rob couldn’t remember the last time he had cooked for an adult. He was an expert at putting chicken dippers and smiley faces into the oven but he didn’t like the idea of serving that to an adult. It wouldn’t really make a good impression.

Really, he should have thought about what he had in the kitchen before he invited anybody over for dinner, but thinking ahead wasn’t really a strong skill he had, and he needed to go over things with Felipe. _In his head_ it had sounded like a good idea. As he poured half a bag of frozen chips into the deep fat fryer, it was less of a good idea.

But he could handle this. He knew he could.

By the time Felipe knocked on the front door, there was some chicken in the oven (not in dipper form) and the chips were almost ready.

“Hi,” Rob said, letting Felipe into the house. “Hey little man.”

Felipinho looked up at him and smiled weakly. He was pretty sure this was going to be boring, and he didn’t even know if Frankie’s papa had any toys for him to play with whilst the grown ups talked about grown up things.

“Dinner won’t be long,” Rob said, closing the door. “Just chicken and chips. I didn’t have much in.”

“Chips!” Felipinho said, excitedly, his mood suddenly lifting. He never had chips at home. Frankie’s papa was definitely the best.

“Take it you like that then,” Rob said, his nerves settling a little.

Felipinho nodded quickly. “Papa never lets me have chips,” he said.

“Oh,” Rob said, looking up to Felipe. Maybe he had made a mistake.

Felipe just smiled and shook his head. “Is fine, really,” he said, quickly.

Rob nodded, a little relieved. “Do you want to… sit down?”  


“It really won’t be that big a thing,” Rob said. “Claire hasn’t actually come and told me about it yet, but it’ll just be a couple dozen people. They’ll be drinks served in fancy little glasses and Claire will do a speech. Nothing all too exciting.”

“You are sure,” Felipe asked. He hadn’t eaten much, Rob noticed, and Felipinho was now stealing chips from his father’s plate. “Have done this before?”

“A couple of times,” Rob said. “We only ever do it like that or as a press conference, and that doesn’t seem to be what’s going on here. Claire wants to show you off. So you go and make small talk with members of the press and probably some representatives from clients and that’ll be it really.”

“And what am I supposed to say?” Felipe asked. Because, if he got this wrong, what were the chances of him getting out of the conscription? He needed to do this right and he needed Rob to tell him how.

But the Brit just shrugged. “The weather, the news. You might know some of them.”

“Why would I- oh.” Felipe realised what Rob was talking about and fell silent. Of course he might know some of them. He’d been to work parties with Raffaela before, been introduced to face after face and he couldn’t actually remember what any of them looked like, but there was always a chance they would recognise him. “Will ask about her?”

“Maybe,” Rob said. “I don’t know. And maybe about Felipinho. It probably won’t be anything bad.”

“Will ask why I am working for you when you are the reason she is dead,” Felipe said. “Well, Williams.”

“Well, you tell them that Williams was able to offer you a good job that better allowed you to look after yourself and Felipinho,” Rob said. “Which is true, I guess. It makes the company look good, which is all Claire wants, and it’s why you’re working for Williams, isn’t it?”

“I do not like this,” Felipe said, looking back down at his plate and finding half his food missing. “Would be easier to just do a press conference, like you say.”

“Maybe,” Rob said. “But then Claire wouldn’t get to show you off so much, and you might have to answer some more difficult questions. I think this way is better.”

Felipe just nodded. Rob probably knew better. After all, this is what the company did, wasn’t it. The event couldn’t be that bad, just as long as Felipe followed Rob’s advice and didn’t do anything stupid.

 

“You look silly,” Felipinho said, grinning as Felipe helped him brush his teeth.

“ _I_ look silly?” Felipe asked. “You are the one with toothpaste down your chin, mister.”

“You’re all dressed up smart,” Felipinho pointed out, wiping his chin on the back of his hand. “Where are you going?”

“Just to work,” Felipe said. He was dressed up smart, and he was running late. They’d fallen into a much more relaxed way of life now the only thing Felipe really needed to time was getting Felipinho to school and picking him up again, and Felipe had never really had to look presentable for either of those things.

“With Frankie’s papa?” Felipinho asked, suspiciously. He didn’t normally get dressed up all smart to go to work with Frankie’s papa.

“Yes, with Frankie’s papa,” Felipe said, wiping Felipinho’s chin with a towel. “Is a very special day today though, so have to dress like this.”

“Oh,” Felipinho said. “Why is it special?”

“Some people from the news are going to be there-.” Felipe began.

“Why?” Felipinho asked. “You haven’t done anything _bad_ have you?”

“No, why would I have done something bad?” Felipe laughed, leading Felipinho out of the bathroom and into his bedroom, finding his school uniform folded ‘neatly’ on the chair.

“Because,” Felipinho said, trying to pull his pyjama top off and getting it caught over his head. “You said Frankie’s papa was on the news before because he had done something bad. So is that why _you_ are going to be on the news.”

“No,” Felipe said, helping Felipinho wriggle out of his top. “I was just being silly before. Frankie’s papa didn’t do anything bad.”

The expression on Felipinho’s face was a strange mixture of confusion, excitement, and awe.

Felipe handed him his polo shirt.

“He didn’t do anything bad?” Felipinho asked.

“No,” Felipe said. “I was being silly.”

“I _told_ you Frankie’s papa was a good guy!” Felipinho said. He’d been right all along. He didn’t know why his father hadn’t believed him. Grown ups really were silly.

“Yeah, you did,” Felipe said, pulling Felipinho’s top down over his head.

“So you can tell Frankie’s mummy that he is a good guy now?” Felipinho asked, flattening down his top. “And then she can come back and bring Frankie back?”

“I do not think that is going to work,” Felipe said, sadly. Felipinho frowned, his excitement leaving a little. Felipe sighed and ruffled Felipinho’s hair. “We will post your letter to Frankie on the way to school though, yeah? That will make him happy.”

 

Rob knew he shouldn’t have been this worried. Everything was going to go fine. Claire wouldn’t have done this if she didn’t think it was going to be good for the company. Rob also knew he needed to stop worry drinking coffee or he was going to need to piss all the way through the morning, and that probably wasn’t a good thing.

Claire was watching him from across the room, pretending to deal with one of the interns who had “volunteered” to serve drinks. Rob gulped and brought the latest mug of coffee up to his lips again as is boss made her way over.

“Where’s Felipe?” she asked.

“On his way,” Rob said. “You said ten, right?”

“Yeah, and it’s half past nine,” Claire said. Why was it so hard for men to understand the concept of showing up half an hour early?

“Well, he’ll have had to take Felipinho to school, won’t he?” Rob said. “And then come over here. He should be here soon.”

He hoped his “assistant” would be here soon, anyway. He’d been trying to get hold of Felipe all morning, just to make sure the Brazilian was still feeling ok for the event, but Felipe wasn’t answering.

“Alright,” Claire said. “I have some news for him after this.”

“What kind of news?” Rob said, hopefully.

Claire smiled, taking the mug of coffee from Rob’s hand. “You drink any more of this, you’ll miss the event.”

The intern called Claire away and Rob let her go, leaning against the wall behind him. Things didn’t officially start until half ten, so there was probably enough time for him to go and find Felipe if he wasn’t there on time, but that wasn’t going to look good for either of them. He pulled out his phone again, checking for messages in case he had somehow missed one the last time he checked, but there was nothing.

Felipe had no reason to bottle out now. Rob had been sure he’d managed to convince him everything was going to be fine the day before. It was just a publicity stunt. They did this kind of thing all the time and nothing bad was going to come of it.

But then, when had Felipe ever listened to common sense?

Rob shook his head, trying to shake the worry away. He would be here. They still didn’t have anything to say Felipe was going to get out of the conscription, and he was sure Felipe wasn’t going to intentionally ruin his chances of that happening. He would show up.

Maybe he had drunk a little too much coffee.

Before anybody else could come over and talk to him, Rob hurried out of the hall that was being used for the event and round to the toilets.

He’d try phoning Felipe one more time, he reasoned.

“ _The number you are trying to contact cannot be reached…”_

“For fuck sake Felipe,” Rob hissed, waiting for the usual beep so he could leave a message. “I know Claire said ten, Felipe, but she’s getting a little worried and, if I’m honest mate, I am a little too. Can you answer the phone or something? Or text back? Or anything? Just want to make sure you’re alright.”

He looked down at the phone as he hung up, as if expecting Felipe to suddenly answer, but there was nothing.

“Fuck sake Felipe.”

What if he’d gotten into trouble? It wasn’t entirely impossible. If _he’d_ been kidnapped from somewhere as secure as the Channel Six, then they could get Felipe from the school run. Nobody knew that Felipe was working for them yet, that was what today was about, but it wouldn’t surprise Rob if someone had found out.

No, he was being stupid. Nothing bad had happened. Felipe was probably driving, that was why he wasn’t answering his phone.

Rob hurried out the bathroom once he was finished, but he didn’t return back to the hall where Claire and the others were waiting for him. He hurried down the stairs and out of the building, finding a box of cigarettes in his pocket and, yes, he was supposed to be quitting, but that never worked. He could do without Claire harassing him about where Felipe was, stressed enough as it was without this on top of everything. One smoke wasn’t going to kill him.

As soon as he had the cigarette lit, though, a car sped into the car park, stopping haphazardly in a parking space and Felipe rushed out.

“What has happened?” Felipe asked, looking worried as he ran towards Rob.

“Nothing’s happened,” Rob said. “Where the bloody hell have you been?”

“Was taking Felipinho to school and then I had to – you said ten o’clock. Is not even quarter to yet,” Felipe said, realising he wasn’t as late as Rob had been making him think he was. “Why are you phoning me so much?”

“You weren’t answering,” Rob said.

“Was driving,” Felipe cried. “Do not want me to crash, do you? What is wrong with you?”

“Sorry,” Rob said, blushing a little. Felipe didn’t need to know about the ridiculous worries he’d been having. He hadn’t been kidnapped or hurt. Everything was going to go fine. “Just a little panicky, that’s all.”

“Is you who tells me there is nothing to worry about,” Felipe pointed out, trying to find his pass in the depths of his coat pocket. “And now you are worrying.”

“A little,” Rob admitted. “I just didn’t want you to do anything stupid.”

Felipe glared at him but stopped himself before he could reply. He knew what Rob meant, of course. But he wasn’t going to do anything stupid now. Not whilst he had the chance of losing Felipinho if he did.

“You should get in,” Rob said. “Claire’s going a little crazy though.”

“Everybody is a little panicky then?” Felipe asked, taking the cigarette from Rob and taking a long drag.

“I didn’t know you smoked,” Rob said watching Felipe hold the smoke for a couple of seconds before bursting into a coughing fit.

“Don’t,” he said. “But is supposed to calm you down, no?”

“Maybe,” Rob said, taking the cigarette back and dropping it to the floor so he could put it out. “Come on.”


	39. Unfortunate Surprises

Claire greeted the guests as Rob and Felipe huddled in the corner, not making any effort to talk to anyone but preparing to do so. Felipe looked between the faces. He recognised a few of them, but not any of the names.

“You’re going to have to go and talk to them, you know,” Rob said, quietly into Felipe’s ear, watching Claire greet another pair of reporters and nod in their direction. “I think that’s supposed to be the point.”

“Will talk to them,” Felipe said, looking into the glass of water he had been given when he arrived and making no effort to go and do so. “Just need to figure out what to say.”

“Why don’t you start with “hello” and take it from there?” Rob suggested, prodding Felipe into the back and making Felipe stumble forward, catching the eye of the two reporters Claire had pointed in their direction.

“Hello,” Felipe said, weakly.

“Felipe,” the male reporter – whose face Felipe recognised but name he couldn’t remember – said, shaking Felipe’s hand firmly. “Wasn’t expecting to see you here?”

“Yeah, well…” Felipe’s voice trailed off and he offered a weak smile in reply, letting the woman – he didn’t even recognise this person’s face – shake his hand before returning it to his glass of water.

“Long time no see,” the man said. “How are things?”

“Yeah they are… they are getting better,” Felipe said.

“Yeah, I guess there’s only one way things can really go after something like that happens,” the male reporter said.

“Better because of Williams?” his co-worker asked.

“Well, yeah, I guess,” Felipe said, nervously, trying to remember what Rob had told him to say, but all he could think of now was “hello” and he hoped the Brit was enjoying this. “I mean… have let me be there for- are you writing this down?”

“Yeah,” the woman said. “Unless, you don’t want me to? I can stop, if you like?”

“No, is… is fine,” Felipe said, watching the reporter’s fingers tap at her phone as he spoke. “Williams is… is definitely helping, for sure. Are… am able to spend more time with Felipinho now than I was before. Has been difficult for him too and, you know, if it is good for him, it is good for us.”

“Oh, how is he?” the man asked. “When I last saw him, he was only about this big.”

“Has not been easy, you know,” Felipe said. “But there is nothing we can do to change what has happened, so we have worked our way through it. Life is different, for sure, but is… Felipinho is fine.”

“Is that what you’re trying to do at Williams?” the woman asked, not looking up from her phone. “Change what has happened?”

“No,” Felipe said, confused. “Cannot change what has happened.”

“It must be strange,” the woman said. “Working here. Knowing it’s their fault your wife is dead.”

“Is not their fault,” Felipe said, the words sounding strange coming out of his mouth no matter how many times he’d practiced saying them.

“Chloe,” the man hissed. “Sorry, Felipe.”

“No, is fine,” Felipe said, watching the reporter whose name he _still_ couldn’t remember glare at his co-worker. Chloe tutted.

“It’s not their fault?” she asked.

“No,” Felipe said. “For sure, would not be working for them if I thought that.”

 

“You say “for sure” a lot when you’re nervous,” Rob whispered into Felipe’s ear as Claire started tapping a glass to get people’s attention.

“Shut up,” Felipe mumbled, blushing a little.

Rob smirked, leaning against the wall behind him in preparation for the speech.

“I guess I should start with thanking you all for coming today,” Claire said. “I know you’re all very busy at the moment, but hopefully the free drinks have made it worth your while.”

“Claire said she had something to tell you,” Rob said muttered into Felipe’s ear. “News.”

“What kind of news?” Felipe asked.

“No idea,” Rob said.

“As I’m sure you’re aware, it has been a difficult time at Williams recently,” Claire continued. “We very almost lost one of our best members of staff due to the organisation we are working so closely with our armed forces to stop. Of course, everybody here was extremely worried, and we are happy Rob is still here with us today.”

Claire waved a hand to them at the back of the room, and most of the heads turned to him. Rob gave them a small wave, doing his best not to shrink away. He’d already seen a couple of them making remarks about the state of his face and now the look on their face was one of understanding. Rob just nodded to them, hoping Claire would continue talking.

“It was a tough day for us and myself, Mr Smedley, and everyone at Williams would like to thank everybody for their support during those hours.”

“And you go bright red when you are put on the spot,” Felipe muttered with a smirk.

“And Rob would not be here today if it weren’t for the quick thinking and bravery of one man. Felipe Massa.”

“Is so sincere, I think I am going to throw up,” Felipe said, making Rob splutter on the water he was drinking, he cheeks going even redder when he realised there were people looking at the two of them again.

“As many of you will know, Felipe lost his wife in the attack on the news centre in the East earlier in the year,” Claire continued. “Williams’ relationship with him started then, when we offered Felipe help with any financial difficulties he might be suffering. After the rescue, however, we realised we could further help by offering a position here. After the ordeal Rob was in need of an assistant.”

“Poor you and your ordeal,” Felipe muttered.

“That fence was bloody high.”

“And Felipe was happy to fill that role,” Claire continued. “It has been fantastic to have Felipe on the team and we are hopeful that this working relationship will continue to benefit the both of us in the future. So, to the future.”

There were mumbles of agreement and raised glasses across the room to follow Claire’s toast. Felipe raised his half empty glass along with Rob, still sniggering a little to his friend.

 

Dan was sat with his work in the school staff room at lunch when Sebastian came in, but he didn’t look up.

“Dan?” Sebastian asked, sitting next to him, but his friend still didn’t look up from his work. “Dan, what’s the matter?”

“Nothing,” Dan said, quietly. “I’m just working.”

“You never work at school,” Sebastian said. “And you left really early this morning. You were gone before I even got up, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Dan said. “There’s just a lot to do, ain’t there.”

“You were funny all day yesterday,” Sebastian said. “What is wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong, Sebastian,” Dan insisted, getting a little annoyed. “I just need to get this work done. Leave me alone to do it, will you, before they start doing reading.”

“Something’s happened, hasn’t it?” Sebastian said, shuffling up when Dan shuffled away from him and putting his arm around the Australian so he couldn’t move any further. “Dan? Is it your mum?”

“No,” Dan said. “Seb, really, it’s nothing. Leave me alone.”

“Not until you tell me what it is?” Sebastian said, practically sitting on top of Dan’s lap. He didn’t like doing this in the staff room where there were genuine adults there to judge him, but he needed to find out what was wrong with his friend. “You are my best friend Dan, and I am not just going to sit back whilst you’re going through a tough time. Tell me what is wrong. A problem shared is a problem halved and everything.”

“This problem isn’t getting any smaller, mate,” Dan said, still not looking at his friend, no matter how difficult it was to ignore him.

“So there is a problem!” Sebastian cried as if it was a triumph. “Come on, Dan. Speak to me.”

“I got my letter yesterday,” Dan snapped, unusually vicious. Sebastian froze, the look in Dan’s eye unfamiliar and unnerving. Sebastian had only ever seen two sides of Dan: the cheerful, easy going guy, and the guy who was so worried before his exams he threw up. He’d never seen Dan angry. Not like this.

“What letter?” Sebastian asked slowly.

“What letter do you think, Seb?” Dan mumbled, looking away from Sebastian again as he pushed his friend away.

Sebastian frowned, trying to figure out what Dan was talking about. Dan could feel his friend’s eyes on him, but he tried his best to ignore him. He needed to get this done before he…

“No.” Something clicked in Sebastian’s head and Dan knew he’d figured it out. “No, Dan, they can’t have.”

Dan nodded, an “I told you so” on the tip of his tongue because he’d like to see how his friend could make this better.

“They can’t have,” Sebastian said again.

“Training first,” Dan said, quietly, still looking at his work. “They don’t give you long. A couple of days and I’m gone.”

“They cannot do this,” Sebastian said. “I’ll phone my father.”

“And what’s he going to do, Seb?” Dan asked, sarcastically.

“I don’t know, but we’ll figure a way out of this,” Sebastian said. “You can’t leave.”

“I don’t have a choice,” Dan said. “It’s too late.”

“When do you go?” Sebastian asked, quietly.

“Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow!” Sebastian cried. “They can’t give you that short notice!”

“I don’t have to be there until Friday,” Dan said. “But if I’m going to get there on time I need to leave tomorrow.”

“They can’t do this,” Sebastian said again.

“I think we’ve established they can do this, Seb,” Dan snapped. “This is happening. I don’t have a choice.”

He shook his head, glancing up at Seb and then back at his papers.

“I need to get this done before I leave,” he said, shuffling the papers around again.

“When were you going to tell me?” Sebastian asked. “You were going to go without telling me, weren’t you?”

“I was… I was going to leave you a note,” Dan said, quietly. It wasn’t ideal, but he didn’t want to say goodbye. He didn’t want to pretend they were never going to see each other again when he knew he could get through this alive if he tried hard enough. He didn’t want to see Sebastian’s reaction. He didn’t want to go through _this_.

“You were going to leave a note?” Sebastian repeated. “You weren’t even going to let me say goodbye.”

“No,” Dan said. “Because I’m coming back.”

“You mean it?”

“I have to come back,” Dan said. “Don’t worry about me, Seb, really, I’ll be fine. It’s you who’s going to have to worry about a class of ten year olds, isn’t it?”


	40. Good News

“Well, that went better than expected,” Valtteri mumbled as Claire saw the last guest out.

Rob and Felipe were still grinning at each other, having managed to keep one another entertained with poor jokes for most of the event. Jokes that hadn’t gone unnoticed by Claire, and Rob was pretty sure his boss wasn’t going to be too impressed when she came over to debrief them, but nobody else seemed to have noticed.

“You didn’t think it was going to go well?” Rob asked.

“Am getting used to the egg,” Valtteri pointed out. There hadn’t been any incidents since Rob had come back to work for them and none of them were sure that was down to sympathy for the kidnapping or if people had just bored of attacking them, but nobody was complaining.

“Ah, I never doubted it would be fine for a second,” Rob said, putting his arm over Felipe’s shoulder.

“Other than all the times you phone me in a panic, you mean?” Felipe asked.

“Yes, other than all those times,” Rob said, rolling his eyes.

Felipe grinned at him.

“That went better than expected,” Claire said, coming over once the last guest had been sent away.

“Do none of you have any faith?” Rob asked, laughing.

“Clearly not,” Claire said, her eyes narrowing a little. “You’re in a good mood.”

“Yeah,” Rob said, his grin falling a little.

“You said you had news?” Felipe prompted.

“Oh, you want to know about that then,” Claire said. “I got an email back from our guy in the government, about the conscription.”

The remainder of the pair’s grins fell in an instant. Rob glanced down at Felipe, his arm falling away from the shorter man’s shoulders in favour of leaning against the wall behind them.

“And?” Felipe prompted again.

There was no doubt over whether he wanted to know or not. He needed to know, so he could tell Felipinho, and they could prepare.

“Rob, we were pretty sure we would be able to get you out,” Claire said. “And that all went pretty smoothly. Felipe… you know it wasn’t guaranteed, don’t you?”

Felipe gulped and nodded. He suddenly felt the need to sit down, but there weren’t any chairs in here and he didn’t think it would be very professional to sit on the floor. He hadn’t gotten out of it. They couldn’t do anything and he’d come to this awful company for nothing.

“It was difficult,” Claire said. “But I did do my best. We wanted this as much as you did.”

“Just get on with it,” Rob snapped. They didn’t need all this build up. They just needed to know if Williams could get Felipe off or not.

“It’s ok,” Felipe said quietly. It had been a long shot and he should have known not to get his hopes up. At least he hadn’t made any promises to Felipinho, he guessed. That was probably a good thing

“You’re not going anywhere,” Claire said. “It was hard, but we managed it. Rob needs his assistant after his ordeal, after all. And the company couldn’t work without him.”

“You got me out?” Felipe asked.

Claire nodded, a smile beginning to creep onto her face. Felipe looked between Claire and Rob, the Brit just as shocked as he was.

“Well, I have work to do,” Claire said when neither of the men replied. “I’m sure you both have plenty to do.”

Rob nodded, the gormless expression still on his face. Claire let herself smile and took Valtteri with her when she went to her office. Both Rob and Felipe stared after her, trying to find the right words.

“I am not going to have to leave,” Felipe said, quietly, the disbelief still clear in his voice.

“You’re not going to have to leave,” Rob repeated, a grin stretching his face again. He was recovering, just, from the shock when Felipe threw his arms around him and buried his face into the taller man’s chest.

“Thank you. Thank you so much.”

“It’s fine,” Rob said, holding Felipe awkwardly and nodding to the few confused looking people who were clearing up.

Felipe pulled away from Rob, his cheeks beginning to go red, and wiped his eyes a little. “Do not believe it.”

“Are you going to tell Felipinho?”

“Of course am going to tell Felipinho,” Felipe cried. Finally, things were going right for them.

 

“Where are we going?” Felipinho asked. This wasn’t the way back to their house. He knew that way and, when Felipe turned left at the top of the road instead of right, he knew something was wrong.

“It’s a surprise,” Felipe said, grinning at Felipinho.

Felipinho looked out the window, trying to figure out where they were going.

“Is it to go and see Frankie?” he asked.

“No,” Felipe said, gently. “Nothing like that.”

“Oh,” Felipinho said. It couldn’t be anything _that_ good then. He had other friends now, new friends, but Frankie was still his best friend, and he missed him.

“It will be good though,” Felipe said, saddened a little to see how quiet Felipinho had gone. It wouldn’t last long, he knew. As soon as he found out Felipe wasn’t going anywhere, he would cheer up. Hopefully.

It was clear when Felipinho figured out where they were going. The dozy smile appeared on his face again and he looked between his father and the road signs. He couldn’t read any of them, of course. But he knew what the ones he was looking at meant. He grinned to himself, having figured out his father’s surprise. It wasn’t really as good as going to see Frankie – not by a long way – but it was still good.

Felipinho cheered quietly as Felipe pulled into the McDonalds car park. He didn’t know what he’d done to deserve this but, whatever it was, he was going to do it more often as soon as he figured out his father’s reasoning. Maybe it was because Mr Ricciardo hadn’t had to phone him up in a long time. He was pretty sure his father was happy about that. Yes, it was probably that.

“Are we eating here?” Felipinho asked.

“Thought it might be nice to sit in the car park, actually,” Felipe said, sarcastically. Judging by the look on Felipinho’s face, the sarcasm was lost on the five year old. “I’m only kidding. Of course we are eating here.”

“Yes!” Felipinho said again, throwing his chubby fists in the air before undoing the seat belt.

The restaurant was fairly busy at this time in the afternoon, and Felipinho held onto his father’s hand tightly as they joined the queue. He already knew what he wanted, the same as he always wanted, and had decided he was going to swing from Felipe’s arm as they waited in the never ending line.

By the time they got to the front of the queue, Felipinho’s tummy was already grumbling and he was pretty sure he was never going to get fed. He wasn’t paying attention as Felipe made the order, staring into space and trying to figure out if he could ever think of just nothing.

“McFlurries hey?” the waitress said, grinning down at a gormless Felipinho. “Somebody’s been a good boy then?”

Felipinho didn’t answer, didn’t even hear. Felipe just laughed. “Yeah.”

“Have you got a table?” the waitress asked. “We’ll bring it over.”

“Thanks,” Felipe wriggled Felipinho’s arm, bringing him back to life as they wandered into the seating area.

“There are no tables,” Felipinho said, sadly. “Where are we going to sit?”

“I think there’s someone over there saving us a spot,” Felipe said, pointing with his free hand.

Felipinho followed his father’s finger until he spotted a familiar face at an otherwise empty table.

“Frankie’s Papa!” Felipinho cried, racing through the tables to go and sit with him. “What are you doing here?”

“We’ve got a surprise,” Rob said, grinning at the child’s excitement. It had been his idea to treat them to McDonalds. Felipe had remarked that Felipinho was probably going to expect chips whenever he saw Rob now, but he hadn’t minded. If it was going to make the kid even happier, he wouldn’t mind at all.

“A surprise?” Felipinho asked, looking between Rob and Felipe. “What kind of surprise?”

It was only then he noticed his father wasn’t even carrying any food. Both parents grinned at him and he wasn’t sure what to make of it now. This couldn’t just be because his papa hadn’t had to go into school. Why would Frankie’s Papa be here if the surprise was just a reward?

“Papa?” Felipinho asked when Felipe didn’t reply straight away.

“Alright,” Felipe said, laughing at Felipinho’s impatience. “Right, you know what I said before, that I might have to go away to the East.”

Felipinho’s grin fell and he gulped a little, nodding. Felipe and Rob were still smiling and he thought that probably meant it would be nothing bad but he wasn’t sure. Sometimes grown ups were silly and confusing.

“Well, you know I said Rob was going to help me so that I didn’t have to go,” Felipe said slowly. “And now we have found out that I’m definitely not going to go anywhere.”

“You don’t?” Felipinho asked, looking again between Rob and Felipe.

Felipe shook his head, his grin growing again as Felipinho’s eyes widened.

“You’re going to stay here?” Felipinho clarified. “With me?”

“Yes, I am staying here,” Felipe laughed.

Felipinho launched himself at Felipe, wrapping his arms around his father as he bounced onto Felipe’s lap.

“You promise now?” Felipinho asked. “You promise you’re not going to go anywhere. Promise now?”

“I promise,” Felipe laughed, groaning when his son kneed him as he climbed off.

Felipinho stumbled away from Felipe and into Rob, wrapping his arms around the other man’s neck and burying his head in Rob’s chest.

“Thank you,” Felipinho said, his words muffled a little. “Thank you for not letting him go.”


	41. Address

Felipinho had bounced himself out and was now asleep on Rob’s lap as the two adults enjoyed their meal, Rob’s fingers absent mindedly running through Felipinho’s hair whilst the other picked at ice cream.

“I still do not believe how well that went,” Felipe said. “Did not even say anything bad.”

“No, I was a little surprised too,” Rob laughed. “I think the press were being nice though. What with my “ordeal” and your… well, nobody really wanted to press you too much. They’re not normally that nice.”

“Have seen,” Felipe said. “Normally there are more eggs involved.”

“You’ve watched them?” Rob asked.

“Fernando shows me somethings,” Felipe said. “My friend, after I told him I was coming to work with you. Said they would treat me like that too.”

“He sounds like a nice guy,” Rob muttered, scraping the side of the cup to try to get more ice cream.

Felipe shrugged. “He is not so bad,” he said. “Just wanted to make sure I knew what I was getting myself into.”

The week hadn’t really been enjoyable. Fernando frequently reminded him how many chances he had given him. How good he’d been and how he shouldn’t have let Felipe keep his job after so many mistakes, but he did it because he was a good friend, and Raffaela’s parents were trying to look after their grandson as best they could. As if Felipe didn’t feel guilty enough about leaving Fernando in the lurch without this too.

“You won’t have to go through any of that,” Rob tried to reassure him. “Promise.”

Felipe smiled, tapping his own spoon against the table and nodding. He wasn’t going to get in any trouble any more. He was just going to sit at home with Felipinho and look after him like he should have been doing all along.

“I think you should get this one back home,” Rob said, looking down at Felipinho. “He’s exhausted.”

“Too much ice cream, I think,” Felipe said, tilting his head to look at his son. Rob looked so natural like that, he thought. The smile on the Brit’s face as he looked down at Felipinho…

An idea occurred to Felipe. An idea that should have occurred to him ages ago. He looked from Felipinho to Rob, trying to figure out how the Brit would react if he told him. It would be a good thing. It would be a good way to say thank you.

“Rob,” Felipe said, quietly.

He was going to get in so much trouble for this. If Lucy ever found out, there would be no more letters from Frankie, and Felipe couldn’t let that happen.

“Do you want him now?” Rob asked, lifting a groggy five year old from his lap.

“No, need to tell you something,” Felipe said. “Is important but… but must promise to not be angry.”

“What’s wrong?” Rob asked, confused. Felipinho was stirring and Rob shifted so the child could be more comfortable, trying to figure out what Felipe might be about to say.

“Promise you will not be angry,” Felipe said again.

“I can’t promise that, Felipe,” Rob said, knowing now to not make promises he couldn’t keep. “What is it?”

Felipe took a deep breath, preying this wasn’t going to backfire on him.

“Before Lucy took Frankie and Felix away, Felipinho says he wants to write letters to them,” Felipe explained. “So I went to Lucy to ask if this would be ok. And she said yes. And they have been writing letters to one another since Frankie left.”

It took Rob a couple of moments’ silence for the confusion to turn into understanding, and then anger. It was probably a good idea he hadn’t promised.

“If you’re writing letters, you have to have an address,” he said, slowly, trying his best to not get angry, because causing a scene in McDonalds wasn’t the best publicity stunt.

Felipe nodded, not daring to look at Rob.

“You know where my kids are?” Rob asked, shifting Felipinho until he was sat back on his own chair. “You’ve known where my kids are all this time and you haven’t told me?”

“If Lucy finds out that I have told you then she will stop Frankie writing letters to Felipinho,” Felipe said. “And I cannot let this happen. This is the happiest we’ve been since Raffaela died and I am not letting her or anybody else ruin that.”

Felipinho stirred, waking up a little. Felipe watched him, hoping he would go back to sleep and wouldn’t ask questions, but it didn’t look like that was going to happen. Rob didn’t seem to understand that worry, or notice it.

“You know where my kids are,” he said. “I thought I was never going to see them again, but you’ve known all along.”

“Have been doing what was best for my own son,” Felipe snapped. “You would do the exact same if it were the other way around.”

“Where are they?”

“You cannot just march up there and take them, Rob,” Felipe said. “She will not let you. Am not telling you until you have calmed down or you are going to do something stupid.”

“If it were the other way around, I would tell you where Felipinho was,” Rob snarled, glaring at Felipe. “After everything I have done for you. I got you out of a fucking war.”

“I saved your life,” Felipe pointed out.

“You threw me over a fucking fence.”

“Shut up about the fence!” Felipe cried. “Am trying to do the right thing for everybody here.”

“You think it’s right that my kids are being kept from me?” Rob asked, shaking his head. He couldn’t believe this.

“No, that is why I am telling you now,” Felipe said.

“Tell me where they are,” Rob demanded.

“She cannot know it came from me,” Felipe said. “You must not ruin this for Felipinho, or I will never forgive you.”

“She won’t find out,” Rob said. “I’ll say… I’ll say Claire told me where to find her. That Williams were looking for Frankie and Felix for me. I’ll say _something_ , just tell me where they are.”

Felipe bit his lip. This seemed less and less like a good idea to him. He needed to get Rob to calm down before he did something stupid. He had no idea whether Lucy would believe that lie or not, but he got the feeling Rob wasn’t going to take no for an answer anymore.

“I don’t remember,” Felipe lied. “We have it written down at home. We go back, yes, and I will give it to you.”

 

Felipe was taking a stupidly long time to find the address and Rob was stood in the hallway with a sleeping five year old in his arms, trying to stop tapping his foot. He shook his head, leaning back to try and see into the kitchen without really moving, but he couldn’t see Felipe anymore. This was ridiculous. He could have been there by now, wherever there was.

“Felipe?” Rob hissed, not wanting to wake Felipinho up. “Hurry up.”

“Just a second,” Felipe called back from the kitchen. Rob groaned loudly and fell back to lean against the wall. This was a good thing, he had to remind himself. He had a way of getting Frankie and Felix back. This was nothing but a good thing.

It would probably be a good idea to plan what he was going to do when he got there. All he had at the moment was take Frankie and Felix and run, but he was pretty sure that wasn’t an entirely legal method of recovery and, if he wanted to keep the kids, he needed to stay on the right side of the law. Talking to Lucy wasn’t going to help though, especially if John was there, leaning over her shoulder and whispering instructions into her ear. And if he gave any warning he was coming, trying to go to Mark for help or something, then they were going to be gone before he could even do anything. Just going and taking the kids seemed like his only option to get them back.

“Here it is,” Felipe said, coming back into the hallway with an envelope in his hands. He offered it to Rob, not sure what else to say. He should have done it sooner, but it was too late for “should have”s now.

Rob passed Felipinho to Felipe and took the envelope. He didn’t recognise the address. It wasn’t somewhere obvious like her mother’s place or a friend’s house. This was them trying to start a new life. They were never planning on coming back.

“What are you going to do?” Felipe asked, watching Rob pocket the envelope.

“I don’t know,” Rob said, honestly. He wanted to do this right. There was no way he could screw this up because he wasn’t going to get another chance.

“Don’t go today,” Felipe said. He’d been thinking about this and he was pretty sure he had a clearer mind than Rob did right now. Maybe his plan of action would make sense to Rob, maybe it wouldn’t, but he was going to try. “Frankie has said about going to a child minder after school. Go tomorrow. I do not know the address but go on their way to the child minders. Tell Lucy you will just have them until she is finished working. If she is in a hurry she will say yes, no? Is worth a try, right?”

Rob wasn’t sure what to make of the plan. It seemed to… make sense, which didn’t really compute itself. Felipe wasn’t supposed to be helping him. The Brazilian didn’t help him until it was absolutely necessary. Rob wasn’t sure if he trusted this new “helpful” Felipe.

But he had a plan, which was more than Rob had, and it made sense.

“You have letters?” he asked, quietly. “You have letters from Frankie?”

“Are Felipinho’s letters,” Felipe said. “You cannot have them.”

Felipinho would never forgive him if Felipe gave his letters away.

“I just… I just want to read them,” Rob said. “Please?”

Felipe looked down at Felipinho, then back to Rob. How much harm could letting him read them do?

“Will put him to bed first,” Felipe said. “Make some tea or something. Is what you are good at. Will bring them down for you.”

 

Rob was sat in the kitchen, staring at two cups of tea, when Felipe eventually came down stairs, a small pile of papers in his hand.

“Be careful with them,” Felipe said, placing the letters in front of him.

There were already tears in Rob’s eyes, Felipe noticed as he sat down beside him, before he even looked at the papers. Felipe took his cup of tea, using it to warm his hands and then to focus his eyes on when he realised he was staring at Rob.

Rob took the first letter with shaking hands, tears blurring his vision. It was Frankie’s hand writing, his son’s drawing at the bottom of the page, and his voice than ran through Rob’s head as he read the words.

How could he have ever thought of giving up?

_School is a little bit boring now. Mummy keeps saying I have to make friends and then it will be lots more fun, but all the other children are not fast enough to be my friend. They are all really rubbish at hide and seek too._

Felipe watched Rob wipe his eyes and shuffle the papers about, moving onto the next letter, and then the next. There was bile rising in his throat and he knew he should have done this sooner. It was easy enough for him to say wait until tomorrow when Felipinho was in bed upstairs but if it were the other way around, he didn’t think he would be so calm.

_We had to try a new vegetable at the carer’s house. It was yucky and I hated it but Felix liked it so I gave Felix all mine. I wasn’t even hungry a little bit._

Rob flicked further through the pile of papers, his smile broadening but his hands still shook.

“He’s ok,” he said, eventually.

“He is fine,” Felipe said. “If I thought otherwise he would not still be there.”

Rob looked past the papers and up to Felipe, who still hadn’t actually drunk any of his tea. Felipe smiled back at him, not sure if it was really appropriate or not, but the Brit’s beam grew. He was going to get his kids back.

“She won’t find out this came from you,” Rob promised.

“Claire has told you where to find them,” Felipe said. He wasn’t sure blaming his new boss was really the right thing to do after she’d just gotten them both out of going to war, but if Rob was ok with that, he would go along with it.

“Thank you so much,” Rob said.

“Is nothing,” Felipe insisted. “Is… is something I should have already done.”

Rob nodded and put the papers down, taking his tea with shaking hands.

“I should go and put them away,” Felipe said, jumping up. “The longer they are left out, the more they are likely to be ruined.”

“Do you remember before?” Rob asked, putting his tea down as he stood up to stop Felipe leaving. “You said I was a bad parent.”

“Was being stupid,” Felipe said. “Did not even know you. Should never have said that. I’m sorry.”

“No, you were right,” Rob said. “I wasn’t the best parent. Work came before the kids and it hurt them sometimes. And I shouldn’t have done it.”

“We all do things we think helps them but it doesn’t,” Felipe said. “Is not your fault.”

He smiled weakly, hoping it would cheer Rob up a little. The Brit rubbed his eyes and took hold of Felipe’s hand.

“How about we forget about all of that, yeah?” he said. “My name’s Rob.”

“Felipe,” Felipe said, his smile growing. “Maybe you make more tea now? Think yours is cold.”


	42. No Goodbye

Felipinho was skipping on the way from the car to the school gates. Every day he seemed to get happier and happier now but, after yesterday’s good news, his happiness had rocketed.

“Come _on_ , Papa,” Felipinho said, giggling, waiting for his father at the school gates. “We are going to be late.”

“We are not going to be late,” Felipe said, laughing a little.

“Come _on_ , Papa,” Felipinho moaned. He was looking into the playground. He could see Alex and the others playing football and he needed to go and be in Alex’s team so he could score the winning goal.

“Go off and play,” Felipe said, waving Felipinho on. “I will put your lunch box on the trolley.”

Felipinho cheered and ran through the gates.

 

Felipinho sat at the circle table with his reading book out for guided reading. There were only two other children at the circle table now, because Frankie wasn’t here anymore and circle table children needed help with their reading.

A lady sat down beside Felipinho, smiling at each of the children and opening up the book they were supposed to be reading. Felipinho frowned at her as she introduced herself.

“Where’s Mr Ricciardo?” he asked. Mr Ricciardo was supposed to be in today. _He_ was the one who was supposed to helping them with reading, not this lady.

“He can’t come in today,” the lady said.

“Why not?” Felipinho asked. He wasn’t at his school today. He knew what days Mr Ricciardo had to be at his school, and it wasn’t any of the days they had guided reading on.

“He has had to go away,” the lady said. “Now, who knows what page we’re on now? Who wants to show me?”

“Gone away where,” Felipinho asked. Mr Ricciardo had promised he wasn’t going to go anywhere. He must have gone somewhere like his school or something. It _wasn’t_ his school, Felipinho knew that, but it could not be away to the East. Because he had _promised_.

“I…” the lady turned to the class teacher and Felipinho _knew_ he was doing that grown up thing. The grown up thing where they were deciding if they should lie or not. “Sometimes grown ups have to go away.”

“He’s gone to the East, hasn’t he?” Felipinho sad, his bottom lip wobbling.

Mr Ricciardo had promised he wasn’t going to go to the East, and he was the only grown up Felipinho knew who didn’t break his promises.

The new teacher nodded. “It’s alright though,” she said, gently, taking out a tissue to wipe Felipinho’s eyes with. “I’ll be your helper teacher now, though. And Mr Ricciardo has told me all about all of you.”

“Don’t _want_ you,” Felipinho said, taking the tissue from the lady. “Want Mr Ricciardo.”

“Felipinho’s a cry baby,” Jessica from across the table laughed.

Felipinho glared at her. “I am not.”

“Cry baby!” the little girl sang. “Cry baby! Cry baby!”

“Am _not_ a cry baby,” Felipinho snapped, standing up. The rest of the class was looking at him now, grins on their faces. Tears began to blur his vision and, no matter how hard Felipinho rubbed his eyes, he couldn’t make them stop.

“Felipinho,” the lady said, gently, trying to hold onto Felipinho’s hand. “Come and sit down.”

Felipinho pulled his hand away from her, stumbling away from the table and out of the classroom.

 

Felipe had never seen Rob this nervous before. Even during the press event, when Rob’s face had gone from pale to roughly the same colour as a tomato, he hadn’t seemed this nervous. When Rob had phoned in the morning, Felipe had agreed to meet him for coffee, but the Brazilian wasn’t entirely sure what his friend wanted him to do.

“You will be fine,” Felipe tried to insist, but Rob wasn’t having any of it. “They are your children, you will have to be fine.”

“I know that,” Rob murmured, tapping his foot impatiently against his chair leg whilst he stared at his coffee. “Still, doesn’t mean anything, does it?”

“Of course it does,” Felipe said. “I bet Frankie and Felix cannot wait to see you. They will be on your side.”

“Depends what Lucy and John have told them,” Rob said.

“Lucy and John?” Felipe said. He recognised the names. Lucy was Frankie and Felix’s mother, he knew that, but he couldn’t figure out why “Lucy and John” seemed so familiar to him. Felipinho must have told him his friend’s step father’s name at some point.

“They’ll have said all sorts of things,” Rob mumbled. “Told them I’m no good. That I abandoned them. That I don’t care.”

“They will know that they are lying,” Felipe insisted. “Frankie is a very clever little boy, no? And he knows you. Would not believe what they have to say. Knows you are a good person.”

“Never mentions me in any of his letters, though, does he?” Rob pointed out.

“I bet Lucy helps him write the letters,” Felipe said. “She wouldn’t want him writing about you. And besides, they are to Felipinho, so they are about whatever little children talk about. Not their parents.”

“I guess you’re right,” Rob said, quietly.

“Am always right,” Felipe said, grinning as he picked up his drink. “Except for all the times when I am wrong.”

“Of course,” Rob said, the Brazilian’s grin contagious.

“You will have nothing to worry about,” Felipe insisted. “I think-.”

He stopped when his mobile started ringing and sighed.

“Is the school,” he muttered as an explanation before answering the phone. “Hello?”

“Hi, is this Felipinho Massa’s father?” the woman on the other end of the phone said.

Felipe took a deep breath and shut his eyes before answering. “Yes.”

“Would you be able to come to the school to collect him?” the woman asked.

“What has happened?” Felipe asked. They were supposed to be getting on track again now. They didn’t need whatever kind of set back this was.

“He’s locked himself in the toilets again,” the woman said. “We’ve tried our best but we can’t get him out-.”

“I’m coming,” Felipe sighed, hanging up before the woman could answer. He shakes his head at the phone, as if that might help. It was no use. Felipinho was never going to be a normal little boy again and he was going to be the parent that has to go down the school every other week for the rest of Felipinho’s school life for one reason or another.

“What’s the matter?” Rob asked, making Felipe jump a little. He’d forgot the Brit was sat opposite him.

“Felipinho is acting up at school again,” Felipe said. “Have to go and pick him up.”

“I thought he was getting better,” Rob said, standing as Felipe did.

“He was,” Felipe said. “Or I thought he was. Sorry I cannot stay. Tell me how things go with Lucy, yes?”

“Do you want me to drive you?” Rob asked.

Felipe shook his head. “Is probably better if there is only me there. Do not want anything strange for him, you know?”

“Alright,” Rob said. “Let me know he’s alright and I’ll let you know how things go with Lucy.”

 

It was the same bathroom again, and part of Felipe wanted to groan and march back out of the school. He had time to be dealing with this, but he didn’t want Felipinho to turn into a spoilt brat who had adults pandering to him whenever he chose he wanted it. But he took a deep breath. Abandoning Felipinho wasn’t going to teach him anything. Being angry with him wasn’t going to teach him anything.

A woman Felipe didn’t recognise was stood in the boys toilets, wringing her hands together.

“Mr Massa, I take it,” the woman said, holding out a hand to shake with Felipe. “I’m Miss Laur, Felipinho’s new Contact Teacher.”

“His what?” Felipe asked. “Wait, where is the other one? Mr Ricciardo?”

“He went away,” Felipinho’s voice came from inside one of the stall. “He promised he wouldn’t have to go away but now he has. He’s gone to the East, Papa, like you said you might have to, and he’s never ever coming back.”

Felipe gulped. So that was what this was about. He knocked gently on the stall door.

“Could you let me in please?” he asked, quietly.

“No,” Felipinho said. “Every time I care about someone, they have to go away. So now I am not coming out and then I won’t care about anyone and then nobody else will have to go away.”

Felipe sighed, nodding his head to the teacher. She seemed to get the point, leaving Felipe alone with his son.

“It is not your fault Mr Ricciardo had to leave,” Felipe said, quietly, sitting on the floor beside the stall Felipinho was locked in, grimacing a little at the grime. “I promise it is not your fault, ok?”

“He promised he wasn’t going to have to leave,” Felipinho mumbled. He would have his thumb in his mouth, Felipe knew, but that had become the least of Felipinho’s problems a long time ago.

“I know,” Felipe said, gently. “But sometimes we can’t help it and we have to do things we don’t want to do. I’m sure he didn’t want to leave.”

“But he left anyway,” Felipinho mumbled. No, he’d decided now. He wasn’t going to come out and he wasn’t going to make anybody else have to leave.

“I know,” Felipe said. “But this is not your fault, remember.”

“Is,” Felipinho said. “Is _always_ me. Is _my_ mummy who left and _my_ grandma and grandpa who left and _my_ best friend that left and now it’s _my_ special teacher who’s left. It’s not fair.”

“I know it’s not,” Felipe said. “It’s just you and me now, isn’t it. But I promise, special _unbreakable_ promise that I am not going anywhere. Are you going to promise you’re not going anywhere?”

Felipinho was silent for a long time, and Felipe thought he might have gone to sleep there on the floor. He felt under the bottom of the door, searching for Felipinho, and the five year old held onto his hand.

“I promise Papa,” Felipinho said, quietly.

“Right then,” Felipe said. “Do you want to come out and we’ll get you all cleaned up, yeah?”

Felipinho pulled his hand away from his father’s and stood up to unlock the door. The child’s eyes were still puffy and red, but he’d managed to stop crying. Felipe smiled and kissed his forehead before taking a wet paper towel to wipe Felipinho’s face.

“I don’t want to stay in school,” Felipinho mumbled.

“You are going to have to come to school tomorrow,” Felipe said, gently. As much as he knew it was probably going to be a problem, he couldn’t keep Felipinho off school indefinitely.

“They were calling me a cry baby again,” Felipinho said, his thumb in his mouth.

“Well, that is not very nice, is it,” Felipinho said. “But what did Mr Ricciardo tell you to do?”

“He said to tell him, but he isn’t here anymore,” Felipinho said, his bottom lip wobbling threateningly.

“Yeah,” Felipe said. “But you have the new teacher, don’t you? Maybe you could tell her.”

“I don’t like her,” Felipinho mumbled around his thumb. “She isn’t Mr Ricciardo.”

“I know,” Felipe said. “But I am sure she is very nice and she will stop them saying nasty things, ok?”

“Alright,” Felipinho said. He didn’t like this idea, but he didn’t think he was going to have a choice. It was better he spoke to this new teacher and they stopped saying he was a cry baby than not speaking to her. “Can I come home with you today though? Please, Papa?”

Felipe sighed, throwing the wet paper towel into the bin when he’d wiped Felipinho’s face. The five year old sniffed loudly, shuddering as he tried to stop himself from crying.

“I will speak to the teacher, ok?” Felipe said. “But you must come to school tomorrow, ok?”

“Ok,” Felipinho said, a hint of a smile on his face. “Papa?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I have a hug?” Felipinho asked. “A really big one, like what Mummy would give?”

Felipe sighed and nodded, getting onto his knees so Felipinho could hug him. He wrapped his arms around the child and squeezed a little before letting him go. Felipinho didn’t let go though, struggling to pull his father closer when Felipe made to pull away. Frowning a little, Felipe hugged him again, waiting this time for Felipinho to let him go before he stood up.

“Better?” Felipe asked.

“A little,” Felipinho said, sniffing again and watching his father stand up.

Felipe took the child’s hand in his and lead him out of the bathroom.


	43. Fathers and Sons

Rob took a deep breath when he stopped the car outside the house. He looked down at the address he’d saved onto his phone, not wanting to give Lucy any evidence that it had been Felipe he’d gotten the address from. This was definitely the right street. And this was definitely the right house number. He was even sure that was Lucy’s car parked outside the house. John’s car was nowhere to be seen, Rob noticed. That was probably a good thing.

It would be fine. He must have gone over this a million times on the way over here. They were his kids, and he had a right to see them. As long as he was respectful and friendly the entire time, Lucy wouldn’t have any reason to stop him seeing the children.

He’d washed his face again before he came here, hoping it might make him look a little better after his so called ordeal, but he still looked like he’d been to hell and back. Rob was just hoping that wouldn’t put Frankie or Felix off.

It was now or never. It was half three and Rob wasn’t entirely sure how long it would take the boys to get home (They definitely came home before going to the carers. Frankie had told Felipinho all about their new schedules), but Lucy’s car was here and Rob was going to assume they would be home. He got out of the car, looking up and down the quiet, residential street. There was nobody about to watch an argument and that made Rob feel a little better. If he couldn’t get Frankie and Felix out of here today, he wouldn’t be embarrassing them in front of all their neighbours.

Rob knocked quickly on the door, preying Lucy would at least answer it. He didn’t know what he would do if she didn’t even answer it.

After waiting a couple of minutes, Rob knocked again, starting to panic a little. The car was here. She had to be in. She had to let him in.

Frustrated, Rob knocked a third time, stepping back and looking up to the upstairs window, trying to see if there was any movement from inside, but the curtains didn’t twitch.

“Daddy? Daddy!”

Rob spun around, relieved to see the two little boys and their mother making their way up the street. He rushed out of the garden just as Frankie let go of his mother’s hand, running towards his father whilst his little brother skipped after him.

“Daddy you came! I knew you would come!”

Rob scooped Frankie up, holding him to his chest and waiting for Felix to catch up with him. He didn’t even look to see Lucy’s reaction, thinking it much more important to breath in the familiar smell of the boys.

Frankie buried his face in his father’s shoulder as Rob picked up Felix, squeezing both boys tightly and closing his own eye. He had them. He had them both. It was going to be ok.

“Missed you Daddy,” Felix said, quietly, his fingers trying to play with Rob’s hair.

“I missed you too, little man,” Rob said, trying to stop his voice from shaking.

“Boys, come on,” Lucy snapped. “We’re going to be late.”

“Lucy,” Rob said, opening his eyes and looking up at his ex-wife. Lucy stood with her arms crossed with a look in her eye that would kill three people if looks could kill. Rob gulped, holding onto the boys a little tighter when they refused to go with their mother. “Hello.”

“How did you find us?” Lucy said, her voice scarily quiet.

“Lucy.”

“It was him, wasn’t it?” Lucy snapped. “Massa told you where to find us. I saw the pair of you on the news. Best buddies now. What? You give him a job so he would tell you where we were.”

“It wasn’t him,” Rob said. “I asked Claire to look for you.”

“I don’t believe you,” Lucy said. “Frankie, Felix, come on. We’re going to be late.”

“You’re going to the child minders?” Rob asked. “Lucy, let me have them. Just for the couple of hours they would have been at the minders. Please, Lucy. They’re my kids.”

“Your kids that you constantly put in danger,” Lucy said. “We came here to get away from you and all the trouble you caused. I am protecting my children.”

“Our children,” Rob corrected her.

“They’re our children when it suits you,” Lucy said. “I am not letting you hurt them again.”

“Please Mummy,” Frankie said, tears rolling down his face. “Miss Daddy.”

“I know you do, sweetie,” Lucy said, gently. “But Daddy has to go away now.”

“No, Lucy please,” Rob said. “A couple of hours. That’s all I want. I’ll bring them back whenever you want me to. You can come too, if you want. If you don’t trust me.”

Lucy sighed and looked between the three of them again. If she took Frankie and Felix away from him now, _she’s_ going to be the bad guy, and she’s already upset the two of them enough by taking them away from everything they knew.

“Fine,” she said. “I can’t come with you. But if they are not here at eight o’clock, I am phoning the police.”

“They will be, I promise,” Rob said, nodding quickly and trying to wipe his eyes on Frankie’s shoulder as he was holding them. “Thank you.”

 

Rob didn’t really believe it. Frankie and Felix were sat opposite him in the greasy little fast food restaurant, swinging their legs back and forth and dipping chips into little tubs of sauce. They were here. They were fine. He had them back.

“And everybody at my school is really super duper slow,” Frankie continued. “So I’m the fastest and that was good at first but now it’s just boring and I don’t even count in some of the races.”

“You’ll have to teach them how to go faster than, won’t you mate?” Rob said, trying to keep the tears from his voice. They didn’t need to see him crying.

“It would be better to just go back to my old school,” Frankie muttered. “Are you going to take us home with you Daddy?”

“I can’t do that, mate,” Rob said. “I’d love to, but I ain’t allowed.”

“Why not?” Felix asked. His Daddy was a grown up, and grown ups could do anything, except break the law, but he was pretty sure his Daddy hadn’t been breaking the law all the other times he had gone to stay at his house.

“Because you have to stay with your mummy,” Rob tried to explain.

“But why?” Felix asked again. It didn’t make any sense.

“Because she’s your mummy,” Rob said, laughing a little.

“But you’re our daddy,” Frankie pointed out. “I want to come and live with you and go to school with Felipinho again. I don’t like living here with Mummy and John.”

“I know you don’t,” Rob whispered. “But you’re just going to have to at the moment, mate. There’s nothing I can do about it.”

“It’s not fair,” Frankie muttered.

“I know, mate,” Rob whispered.

“Daddy?” Felix asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Rob said, quickly, wiping his eyes quickly on one of the rough paper napkins he’d collected for the boys. He couldn’t do it. He was going to have to leave them with her again and who knew if he was ever going to see them again. She was probably already planning their next move and he just could not let that happen.

When he looked up again, Felix had hopped off of his seat and was making his way around the table. He pushed himself up onto Rob’s lap and wrapped his arms around his father.

“Really did miss you, Daddy,” Felix said. “Please don’t go away ever again.”

 

“Felipinho, you can eat your ice cream and then I am running a bath, alright?” Felipe said.

Felipinho nodded, sitting at the table and grinning as his father put the ice cream down in front of him. Felipe was pretty sure he was spoiling him but, right now, he didn’t care. He’d managed to convince Felipinho to go to school tomorrow and that was all that mattered.

There was still no message from Rob on how going to see Frankie and Felix had gone. Felipe had decided it was better for Felipinho to not know about the plan. He would only get excited and think Frankie was coming back and Felipe was sure that wasn’t going to happen. Then Felipinho would be even more upset, which was the outcome Felipe was doing his best to avoid.

Ruffling Felipinho’s hair, Felipe went up the stairs, taking his phone with him and answering it as soon as it started ringing.

“You told him?”

It wasn’t Rob.

“Lucy?” Felipe asked, sitting on the edge of the bath.

“You know, I thought I was being nice by letting my son write to your little brat,” Lucy snapped. “And how do you repay me?”

“My son is not a brat,” Felipe snapped.

“You told Rob where we are,” Lucy said.

“I have not told him anything,” Felipe said.

“Do you really think I’m going to believe all that about Claire Williams,” Lucy said. “Do you think I’m stupid?”

“Lucy calm down,” Felipe said. “What has happened?”

“You fucking know what has happened,” Lucy snapped.

“Lucy, calm down,” Felipe said again. “This is not helping. What has happened? What has Rob done?”

“You know bloody well what he’s done,” Lucy said. “ _You’re_ the one who gave him my address, don’t even try to deny it.”

“Lucy, would not give him your address,” Felipe said. “Know I hate him as much as you do. Killed my wife, remember?”

“I’ve seen the two of you are working together now,” Lucy said.

“Still killed my wife,” Felipe pointed out. “Lucy, have not told him anything. Think maybe you call me back when you have calmed down a little.”

“You fucking liar,” Lucy snarled.

“Yes, goodbye Lucy,” Felipe said, hanging up. He sighed and looked down at the phone, ignoring the call when it immediately started ringing again. When Lucy had calmed down properly, Felipe would speak to her and explain he had nothing to do with this. Maybe he would be able to convince her to still let Frankie send Felipinho letters.

Felipe stuck the plug in the bath and turned the tap on, before going downstairs to check on Felipinho. It would all be alright in the end. It would have to all be alright in the end.


	44. Goodbye and Hello

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much everybody who read (I just tried to write "readed", it's too early for this...) who *read* this and commented. It was supposed to get happy. I had a plan and everything. But then... shit happened... and then the happy parts got changed and, well, you read it. But there's still hope. There's still one more chapter for everything to go right...   
> Thank you again. I hope the ending doesn't disappoint...

“We should get going back,” Rob said, looking down at his watch. They still had half an hour until the boys needed to be back with their mother, and Rob knew he should make sure he spent every second he could with the boys but, maybe, if they were back early, he would be more likely to get to have them again.

Both boys groaned, looking up from the battle they’d been having with the free plastic toys they’d been given.

“Do we have to?” Felix asked.

“Yep,” Rob said.

“Are you coming again tomorrow Daddy?” Frankie asked.

“Probably not, no mate,” Rob said. “But I’ll come again soon. I’ll talk to mummy and we’ll arrange something, yeah?”

“I don’t want you to go away,” Frankie said, climbing out of his own seat to sit on his father’s lap. “I want you to live with us, not John, like before.”

“I know,” Rob said, running his hand through Frankie’s hair. “I want that too. But mummy doesn’t. And mummy is happier this way, and so this is how things are going to be, ok. I’m sure mummy is doing everything to make you happy, isn’t she?”

“It would be better if we were living with you though,” Frankie said. “I think that would make mummy happy. More happier than John makes her.”

“I don’t know, mate,” Rob said. “It doesn’t matter though. All that matters to me is making sure you two are happy, yeah. But come on, I have to get you home now.”

 

Felipe left his phone down stairs as he took Felipinho to have a bath. Lucy had already tried to phone him three times but he was convinced she wouldn’t be calmer yet. Maybe after bath time, once Felipinho was tucked up in bed, he’d check up on her.

“Papa?” Felipinho said, slowly, struggling to get his top off from over his head.

“Yeah?” Felipe asked, his back to Felipinho as he finished filling the bath up.

“Do you- umph. Do you think Mr- ugh. Papa, help please?”

Felipe spun around and grinned at the mess Felipinho had gotten himself into, half out of his polo shirt but not quiet, and pulled the top over the little boy’s head. Felipinho smiled back at him, the dozy smile in place, and looked down at his tummy, before remembering what he had been trying to ask.

“Do you think Mr Ricciardo will be away for a long time?” Felipinho asked.

Felipe sighed, sitting on the edge of the bath to wait for Felipinho to finish getting undressed.

“Maybe,” he said. “It depends how long it takes to get the bad guys.”

“I hope it doesn’t take long,” Felipinho said.

“I hope so too,” Felipe said, although he was sure it wouldn’t be over soon. They’d said it would only be a couple of months when Raffaela had first gone away, and look how that had turned out.

“Do you think he’s going to come back to school when he’s finished getting the bad guys?” Felipinho asked, sitting down to pull his socks off.

“Probably,” Felipe said. “I bet he cannot wait to get back and teach you all again.”

“I hope so,” Felipinho said. “I think the new teacher might be nice but I don’t think she will be as nice as Mr Ricciardo. I don’t think anybody will ever be as nice as Mr Ricciardo. He was the nicest person on the whole wide world.”

“Even nicer than me?” Felipe asked, grinning.

Felipinho thought for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah, a little bit nicer than you.”

“Well, then. He must be really super nice,” Felipe said, still grinning.

“Really super _duper, extra_ nice,” Felipinho said, nodding enthusiastically. That was exactly how nice his teacher was.

“Even nicer than Rob?” Felipe asked.

“Who’s Rob?” Felipinho asked, confused.

“Frankie’s papa,” Felipe explained.

“Oh,” Felipinho said, before thinking about the question. Mr Ricciardo was really super upper extra nice, but Frankie’s papa had stopped his papa from ever having to go away again, and that seemed like a really nice thing to do. “Mr Ricciardo and Frankie’s papa are about the same amount of niceness,” he declared, after careful consideration.

“Well then,” Felipe said. “I guess Frankie’s papa is more nicer than me.”

“Just a little bit,” Felipinho said, standing and showing with his fingers how little that was, before letting Felipe lift him into the bath.

“I will tell him that when I next see him, yeah?” Felipe said, the smile still on his face.

Felipinho nodded, already midway through a lap of the bath with his little toy boat and paying Felipe little attention now.

“Right then,” Felipe said, taking the wash cloth and soap. “Let’s find out if there is a little boy under all that mud or just a little monster.”

 

There was sick rising in Rob’s throat as he pulled back up outside the boys’ new home. Again, Lucy’s car was there, and Rob was slightly relieved to see John’s wasn’t. It would be easier to talk to Lucy if John wasn’t there to tell him to piss off. Maybe he would be able to convince her to let him see the boys again but, the more he thought about it, the more he was convinced that was never going to happen.

“Come in with us, Daddy,” Frankie said as they got out of the car, taking hold of his father’s hand and gripping as tightly as possible. “Mummy will make you some tea.”

“I don’t think she will, mate,” Rob said, knocking on the door.

Lucy answered, immediately, looking just as angry as Rob had left her. Convincing her wasn’t going to be as easy as he hoped it would be.

“Say goodbye to your father and come inside boys,” Lucy said, not letting her glare leave Rob.

“Can Daddy come inside and have some tea with us?” Frankie asked, not letting go of his father’s hand whilst his brother hid behind the two of them. “Please?”

“No,” Lucy said. “Daddy is busy, aren’t you?”

Rob wanted to deny it, to try and convince her to let him inside, but none of that was going to work in his favour, so he pulled his hand out of Frankie’s and crouched down in front of the pair of them.

“I’ve got to go, mate,” he said, softly. “But I’ll be back soon. I promise. Now you be good boys for your mum, won’t you. Make sure you clean your room when she asks you to and no more food fights, alright. It’s not very good. What would Santa think? Frankie, I’m sure you’ll make new friends at school. There’ll be somebody who’s nearly as fast as you, but maybe they’re a little shy and you have to find them, yeah? And Felix will be coming to your school soon, won’t he? And then you can play together. I know you don’t like it right now, but you didn’t like your old school straight away. You’ll love this one too soon.”

“Daddy?” Felix asked, catching the tear that rolled down Rob’s cheek. “Daddy, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Rob said, smiling. “Nothing’s wrong. I’m just being silly.”

“I really don’t want you to go, though, Daddy,” Frankie said. “I want to go home with you please Daddy. It’s not fair.”

“I know,” Rob said. “But things will be better here for you, Frankie. You’ll like it here more.”

“Boys,” Lucy said. “Come inside.”

“Do as your mum says,” Rob said, hugging Frankie and then Felix.

“You will come back soon, won’t you Daddy,” Frankie said as Felix slipped past him. Lucy pulled him into the house and sent him into the kitchen, holding out her hand for her eldest son.

“Yeah,” Rob said, running his hands through Frankie’s hair. “I’ll be back soon.”

Frankie quickly hugged his father again and followed his brother inside. Lucy stepped outside and shut the door behind her.

“You’re not coming back here again,” she said.

“Please, Lucy,” Rob said. “They’re my children. I can be a better parent. You know I can.”

“Do you have any idea what it’s like?” Lucy snapped. “To get a phone call to tell you that your kids _might_ be kidnapped by fucking _terrorists_? Do you know what it’s like having to protect them from something like that? Never knowing if they’re still going to be there when you wake up in the morning. I have been worried sick about them every day since I got that phone call, and whose fault is that? They need to be away from you, Rob. It’s for their own good.”

“Lucy, please,” Rob said. “We’ll sort things out. Make sure nobody hurts them. You’re going to let the boys grow up without a father because of _them_.”

“They’ll have John,” Lucy said.

“John is _not_ their father,” Rob said. “John was not there when the only thing you could eat when you were pregnant with Frankie was marmite on scones. John was not there when we thought we almost lost Felix. John was not there when Frankie took his first steps, or when Felix smiled for the first time, or when Frankie threw up all over your sister during her baby shower. I was. I am their father. You can’t stop me seeing them.”

“I am trying to protect our children,” Lucy said, shaking her head. “I’m sorry Rob. I really am.”

“Lucy _please_ ,” Rob said, grabbing Lucy’s hand when she reached for the door handle. “I am begging you, please don’t take them away from me.”

“Just go Rob,” Lucy said, pulling her hand away. “You’re making a mess of yourself. Go. We won’t come asking you for anything. Why don’t we just pretend the last ten years never happened?”

“Because they _did_ ,” Rob said. “Lucy, _please_.”

It was no good, Lucy just shook her head, disappearing inside the house before Rob could stop her. No matter how long he knocked for, the door would not open again.

 

“Felipinho you cannot run down the stairs with your towel wrapped around you,” Felipe called after him, but he was pretty sure Felipinho didn’t listen. He just sighed and shook his head, listening for the telling sound of a thump as he cleaned the bubbles from the bath.

Surprisingly, there wasn’t a tiny Brazilian splatted at the bottom of the stairs when Felipe came down, but Felipinho was making no effort to get into his pyjamas when he spotted his favourite cartoon on the television.

“Ahem.”

Felipinho jumped out of his skin and spun around.

“I need help with my top,” he said, pointing to the pile of clothes he’d made no effort to put on.

“You need to try it yourself,” Felipe said, taking the pyjamas and bringing them over. He scrubbed Felipinho dry with the towel and handed him his things. “You try and if you can’t do it I’ll come and help, ok.”

“Are you going to make hot chocolate?” Felipinho asked, sitting down to try to put his bottoms on.

“Do you want hot chocolate?”

Felipinho nodded.

“Right then,” Felipe said, standing. “As long as you don’t spill it on yourself. And you try to put your top on yourself.”

Felipinho nodded again and Felipe headed into the kitchen to make the hot chocolate. His phone still lay on the kitchen counter and he sighed, expecting half a dozen missed calls from Lucy, but there was only one. A second, unknown, number had tried calling only five minutes ago, and the voice mail icon was flashing at the top of the phone.

Pretty sure it was just going to be an angry rant from Lucy, Felipe dialled the voice mail and put the phone to his ear.

“Felipe?”

That was not Lucy.

“Felipe please. I do not… do not know where I am but they have me and they will not let me go. It _hurts_ Felipe. It hurts so much. Just want to go home but they won’t let me. You have to do something. You have to help me, please Felipe. I miss you. I miss you both. I love you.”

“End of messages. If you would like to…”

Felipe stared at the phone as the voice mail ran through the services, shaking his head a little.

Raffaela. She was alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More soon...


End file.
